A/N: I apologize, I have been sick, studying, rehearsing for concerts, and playing sports, so I have had literally no time to write. A steadier schedule will come after next week. Oh, and this is my favorite chapter so far! Enjoy.

Disclaimer: Not mine.

#9: The luge.

It had seemed relatively easy, safe, and extremely fun. Only one of those three assumptions had been correct.

Less than twenty minutes earlier

"See, that doesn't look so hard, does it?" Tony asked his partner.

"We only saw them for a few seconds, and they were screaming gory murder," Ziva replied. The two agents were referring to McGee and Abby, who they had watched fly along a curve of the icy track on their double luge sled.

Tony rolled his eyes, and continued to bounce on the balls of his feet in an excited way. "Bloody, Agent David, the term is bloody murder. Besides, you and I do not scream."

"Sure you don't," the track supervisor, a male in his twenties who had been eyeing Ziva, commented sardonically from behind them. "The other pair have cleared the track, so it is time for you two to get ready."

Tony and Ziva glanced at each other before following the man, whose nametag read Joe, towards the locker rooms.

"You may change in there."

The locker room was barely larger than a storage closet, it seemed. With the lockers lining the walls, actually changing space was minimal. He looked at the suit he had been carrying, and was filled with yet more adrenaline. Going slightly overboard, he had bought luge suits for the four of them, but had had the sense to rent the rest of the necessary equipment. His suit was blue on the torso and black on the legs, with flame designs on each limb. He discovered when he put it on that it was extremely skintight, and contained a plastic membrane. The equally thin body armour did little to hide anything. It was also not very warm. He pulled on the helmet, shoes, and spiked gloves before leaving the claustrophobic space and meeting his partner. The shoes, he quickly learned, weren't really shoes and kept your feet pointed, so walking was an interesting challenge.

For a moment, Ziva couldn't speak when she saw him, she was laughing so hard. "You look…ridiculous!" Tony was offended, also because she didn't say anything about the weight he had worked to shed for this day.

"Well I think you look like a female Santa Claus. But we should still hurry before Joey-boy starts ogling you." Her suit, of course, also fit tightly, but was white at the torso with red legs and accents. He would've gotten her black, but Abby had claimed that color first.

Ziva placed a hand on her flat stomach and said, "Tony!" He just grinned and walked back towards the doors to the track, where Joe, the track supervisor, was standing and indeed staring at Ziva. He held a green double luge sled in his arms.

Tony might've heard a soft snicker from behind him (probably Ziva making fun of how his butt looked in the luge suit), but ignored the sound.

Then, they were nearing the peak of the track's initial slope and getting on the sled. Tony, as the heavier participant, went on the bottom, and Ziva laid herself carefully on top of him, her helmet-covered head resting on his stomach. Joe ran through what to do (for the third time in the past hour).

"I swear, DiNozzo, if you get us killed, I will hunt you down in hell and make you wish you had never lived." He could feel her strong and exhilarated heartbeat through their very thin suits, and noticed how her muscles remained relaxed, unlike his rigid and less mobile ones.

"All right, sit up and get your run going! Remember to keep your head up, movements the same and all limbs attached," Joe instructed. "Someone will meet you at the end of the track…if you make it."

As one, they raised themselves into a sitting position, and grabbed onto the handles used to help them propel themselves forward. After four short and two long repetitions, as Joe had directed, they released the handles and started to glide forward. They then utilized the spikes in their gloves to push themselves further down the slope until they reached a black line under the ice. Quickly lying back down, he felt their heartbeats speed up in direct proportion to the sled's acceleration. They became not Tony and Ziva, but a single, unified, nameless being.

In synchronization that was almost instinctual, they leaned the correct way around the first turn, and he had to bite back a scream of terror and elation. She, with her love of IED-avoiding high speeds must be really enjoying this, he might've noted, had any part of his brain not been tunnel-visioned on the task at hand.

They navigated a few more turns before they were presented with a small hill. Their momentum carried them not only up the slope, but floated them a bit off the ground on the slight downward grade of the other side.

They both, out-of-character, let out short peals of fear. She pressed against him, trying to push the sled down, and he did the same. Barely had the regained what remained of their composure when another turn rose up and they had to readjust their trajectory.

Suddenly, the track leveled out and they saw people standing on the platform, as well as either side of the track, to help them stop. Each person on the sled reached out their hands and rose to a more upright position to slow down. Following Joe's orders, they retracted their right hand and swung to a halt. A combination of momentum, inertia, and utter weariness caused the pair to collapse off of the sled and roll over, so he was still on the bottom, against the cool ice.

His own heartbeat pounded in his ears and as he slowly regained his identity he realized his hand laid across her back. She was spread-eagled over him, and her head next to his.

"Again?" he whispered.

"Ha. Of course. Next month. I must reclaim a natural heart rate first."

"Tony! Ziva! You guys were awesome!" Abby padded over to them, odd-looking in her black and pink luge suit and helmet. McGee was dragged along behind her, not nearly as excited and almost as green as his suit. Ziva pushed herself up, and began to chat with Abby about how she and McGee's ride had been. McGee helped Tony to his feet and the exhausted agents spotted their smirking leader standing on the platform several yards away.

"I still expect you all at work tomorrow."

A/N: What did you guys think? I really enjoyed this one, and felt good that it was over one thousand words. I cannot promise a new one this week, because I have to study for end-of-semester exams. When I can, though, I will work on this story!

Don't forget to review!