An Ice Think

By: Sheltie

I don't own Mighty Ducks

A/N: yes it is the pun of a nice think. Sorry for those who groaned at my title. It was the best I could come up with. Yes, I know Christmas has passed, but again this when I had time to post it.

Julie groaned as she covered her ears to block out the strangling of the cat that was Averman and Goldberg trying to sing a Christmas song. She was at the Conway's, where the Ducks were having their annually Christmas party. She looked around and found Connie and Guy hogging the mistletoe which was to be expected. From there she saw Fulton and Portman talking about something as they shoved one another playfully with each shove harder than the last. That lasted until Casey told them to stop. Her eyes then turned to the other Ducks around then she realized she missed Charlie, where was the duck captain?

She went off to search for the missing captain since no one else seemed to notice he was gone. But first she needed some information. That meant breaking up the kissing couple.

"Cons, Cons, Cons? Oh for heaven sake Connie Moreau!" Julie shouted.

Connie looked away from her boyfriend annoyed that their little moment was broken.

"What is it Jules?" she asked grumpily.

"Where's Charlie, I haven't been able to find him?" Julie asked.

"What do you mean he was in the kitchen a moment ago?" Connie asked.

"Cons, you and Guy have been under the mistletoe for more than the allotted time and Charlie was in the kitchen about an hour ago" Julie said.

Connie frowned.

"Look Jules, I'm sure wherever Charlie is he's fine" Guy said wanting his girlfriend back.

"But he's never done this before, has he?" Julie asked worriedly.

Before Guy could answer Connie shook her head.

"No, he hasn't. This isn't like Charlie at all" the brunette said.

Guy let out a sigh since he knew that there was no way he'd get Connie back into the mood with her worrying about Charlie. That meant they had to find Charlie then his girlfriend would be back to normal.

"Come on, let's go ask his mom where he might be" Connie said as she pulled Julie to the kitchen.

In the kitchen they found Casey refilling a patter of cookies as she hummed a Christmas song that was playing on the radio.

"Casey?" Connie asked.

"Oh hello Connie, I didn't think I'd be seeing you at all tonight with your face on Guy's" Casey teased.

Connie blushed slightly.

"Ms. Conway" Julie said.

Casey gave Julie a look. Julie gulped. Casey insisted the whole team call her Casey since they are so very close and she is like the mother duck of the team.

"Casey, have you seen where Charlie is?" Julie asked.

"No, I haven't seen him since I asked him to go out for more ice and pop" Casey said now frowning.

Connie and Julie looked at one another.

"We'll go out and look for him" Connie offered.

"Thank you dear" Casey said.

Julie and Connie put on their jackets and headed out.

/Scene Break/

The two female Ducks searched everywhere for the wandering captain. They first went to the nearest shop and found that he wasn't there. After that they made their way to other spots, but no luck.

"Where can he be?" Julie asked worriedly.

Connie frowned then she got an idea.

"Come with me" she said.

"Where are we going?" Julie asked.

"No time to explain" Connie said.

The two girls made it to the small pond that the first Ducks used to use as their rink. On the ice as a lone figure walking slowly on the ice.

"There he is" Connie said happily.

"Why'd Charlie go here?" Julie asked.

"He said he liked this place since it was a good place to think" Connie said.

"Huh, oh look. There's the ice and pop" Julie said pointing.

Close by the edge was two big bags of ice and two 24-packs of pop.

"Come on, we better get Charlie and the things back before Casey worries even more" Connie said.

Julie nodded.

The two girls made it down and was about to take the items when a shout stopped them. Soon Charlie came towards them and slid to a stop.

"Cons, Jules, what are you two doing here?" the captain of the Ducks asked.

"We should be asking that same question Conway. What are you doing out here all alone when your house is packed with your friends and family. Your mom is worried about you" Connie said with her hands on her hips.

Charlie looked sheepish.

"Sorry, I just needed some air and I guess I lost track of time" he said.

"Well come on, we better get back" Connie said.

Charlie nodded.

They picked up the items and went on their way Connie was leading with Julie walking beside Charlie.

"What were you thinking about Charlie?" Julie asked.

"What?" Charlie asked.

"Connie told me that you go out there to think, so what were you thinking about?" Julie asked.

"Oh, nothing much" Charlie said.

Julie felt Charlie was keeping something from her, but let it go for now. She was just happy that they'd found Charlie and he was safe.

/Scene Break/

The three got back to the party and Casey hugged her son then quietly berated him for going missing. Charlie apologized and promised his mother that it wouldn't happen again. Once that was done Connie was back with Guy though this time she sat in Guy's lap and showed that you didn't need mistletoe to kiss. Thankfully Averman and Goldberg had stopped singing.

As for Julie she settled back and watched all of her friends/teammates have a good time. She was happy to have found Charlie, but a small part of her mind was curious as to why he was on the ice. Call it a bad habit, but she couldn't stop thinking about and decided to ask again. She pushed off the part of the wall she was leaning against and went to look for Charlie. She found him chatting to Adam. The two looked in deep conversation and when she got close Adam stopped talking and motioned for Charlie to stop too.

"Uh hey Jules, what brings you here?" Charlie asked.

"What were you two talking about?" Julie asked instead of answering Charlie's question.

"I think Ken wants to talk to me, gotta go" Adam said then rushed off.

Charlie glared at the spot where his best friend once stood silently cursing his name.

"Charlie?" Julie asked.

"Huh, oh Jules, what brings you here?" Charlie asked now realizing again that Julie was still in front of him.

"What were you and Adam talking about?" Julie asked.

"Oh, nothing much, just guy stuff" Charlie said.

"Guy stuff?" Julie questioned.

"Yeah" Charlie said.

He didn't want to say that he and Adam were talking about his possibilities in dating a certain goalie. He's had a crush on Julie ever since he saw her in the Goodwill games, but was too nervous to ask her out. So he took the friend route and they've been like that ever since. Even in Eden Hall they remained friends. His relationship with Linda didn't last long since neither had really romantic feelings for the other. So they called it off and were still friends. This brought back the thought maybe asking Julie out.

Now Charlie still had those same fears about dating a friend and what might happen. That was why he was on the ice tonight trying to sort out his thoughts, but Julie and Connie got there before he made any good headway. So he went to his backup. Talk to Adam. He knew he could trust Adam with this since they were not only room mates in school, but best friends.

Adam actually encouraged Charlie to make a move and even tried to give him some tips. They of course were interrupted by Julie before they got any further into it.

"Charlie, you still there?" Julie asked.

Charlie shook out of his daze he was in and smiled at Julie.

"I'm fine, just a lot on my mind" he said.

Julie found an opening.

"That's kind of what I wanted to talk about. What were you thinking about when Connie and I intruded on you?" she asked.

"Oh, uh, it was just stuff, nothing big" Charlie said.

Julie arched an eyebrow. She wasn't buying it at all.

Charlie's mind was at full throttle as he thought of a made up thing that he could throw at Julie to get him off his back. He wasn't ready for this. He had no plan. He felt sweat starting to accumulate in his armpits and his brow. Was this nervous.

"Charlie, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, I just wanted to see if I might be able to help you" Julie said.

"No, I'll tell you. Come with me" Charlie said as he grabbed Julie's hand.

"Where we going?" Julie asked.

"Somewhere private" Charlie said.

With jackets in hand Charlie led Julie to the roof of his building. There was a layer of snow on the ground there and possible slippery spots. Charlie let Julie until the got to the edge. He swept off a spot for the both of them.

"Okay, what is it you want to tell me that you couldn't tell me back in the apartment?" Julie asked.

Charlie took a deep breath as he gathered his courage. He grabbed the back of Julie's head and kissed her.

Julie was shocked when she felt Charlie's lips on hers. She had no idea that Charlie had feelings for her. That's when a part of her told her to kiss him back. She did. They pulled away panting slightly.

"Sorry for just kissing you like that, I know that I should've told you or warned you or something. I just didn't think I'd get the nerve to do so. So that's why I kissed you" Charlie apologized.

"Charlie, I don't just let anyone kiss me you know. I had a chance to push you away, hit you, or something. But I didn't. I liked it. So that's was what you were thinking about? You wanting to kiss me" Julie said.

"Um, a bit more than that really. I like you Jules. A lot. I was hoping, well, maybe we can give one another a chance?" Charlie asked nervously.

Julie smiled at Charlie's nervousness. It looked cute.

"I think I'd like that" she said.

"Really?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah, come on, let's go back and tell everyone the good news" Julie said getting up and holding out her hand.

Charlie took it and got up. He then pulled Julie into one last kiss before they headed back down.

End

A/N: thanks for reading and please review.