NCIS Fan Fiction Reccomendations

Rec Category: Gibbs/Ducky. Slash
Pairing:  Leroy Jethro Gibbs/Donald 'Ducky' Mallard
Category:  Slash. Established Relationship. Romance. Friendship. Team fic. Holiday fic.
Author on LJ: feenixandashes
Author's Website: N/A
Link: Twelve Ways To Say I Love You

Why this must be read:

I confess that I may be a tad biased in respect of Twelve Ways To Say I Love You, as it was written for me, specifically to my tastes and wishes, as part of the ncis_tinsel 2006 Fiction Exchange.

Nonetheless, for me this is one of the definitive Gibbs/Ducky stories. It shows two men in love without resorting to over the top and out of character actions and reactions. Ren's story is set firmly within canon and contains an established relationship, romance, love, friendship, the twelve days of Christmas, a touch of angst, team banter, sex, and this is all done without making the story soppy or over emotional.

What more can I say? I just love this story.

Teaser:

Gibbs face became puzzled, wondering who would give him such a gift. It was unlikely to be his long time lover Ducky. There would be no need to sign the gift with a question mark. Besides Ducky knew he wasn’t a fan of this type of music, and certainly Ducky wouldn’t do something as ridiculous as this. So he immediately crossed out his lover from the imaginary list of possible prank players.

Would it be something DiNozzo would play, but again DiNozzo would know his life span would be cut short, as a result, so again another name was crossed out.

That left Abby and McGee, but again reasoning got the better of him. Any way he had better things to do, such as work, and curtailing the fun, currently pervading through his team. So he swiftly got his team back on focusing on their trials of their day ahead. However in the midst of business the cogs were turning in his mind as to who did leave that gift. And if the anonymous gift giver was staying true to that old song, well he could be facing 11 more days of odd tokens of affection.

Rec Category: Gibbs/Tony
Pairing: Gibbs/Tony
Category: Angst, first time
Warning: NC-17
Author on LJ: ingenius_inc
Author's Website: none
Link:  Issues With Confined Spaces And Rococo Lamps

Why this must be read:
If my memory is accurate,   I believe that ingenius_inc learned to write in Persian before she learned English and her style reflects it.  Her stories are filled with elegant, poetic sentences and lots of characters' inner thoughts.

Giibbs barks at him to get the van and then drinks a lot of dark bitter coffee -- the stuff smells so strong Tony gets nauseous just making the runs to the coffee shop (wherever they are, there’s always a coffee shop around for Gibbs; The Universe’s Guide To Survival, Third Edition, chapter one, page four) and back-- and then there’s an hour spent looking for fingerprints on really obscure (but no doubt important) surfaces --like rocks-- in the mid-summer heat and Gibbs only calls it quits when Tony begins to worry about contaminating the crime scene with his own sweat.

Oh, and the plot -- it takes place when Tony is feeling down. Ziva didn't invite him to dinner with the team; he's stuck with an ugly lamp; he's recovering from "Boxed In"; oh, and Gibbs. He wants Gibbs. Can he have him?

Rec Category: Gibbs/DiNozzo
Pairing: Gen
Category: Gibbs/DiNozzo, Angst
Warning: Umm... serial killer that targets little girls
Author on LJ: (If applicable)
Author's Website: NA
Link: Rictus

Why This Must Be Read:
Sequitur describes the story as "How Tony DiNozzo started working for NCIS." Not only do we get the first meeting between Tony and Gibbs, but they also work their first case together, a really nasty serial killer case with the targets being little girls. Tony's situation within the police department is bad and getting worse, and Gibbs realizes that the younger man is close to burn out. Sequitur does an excellent job of getting into the heads of both Gibbs and DiNozzo and showing us how well the two mesh almost immediately.

For June we'll be doing something a little different while I work on some changes to how things are working.

For June, everyone can post one rec of their favorite story in NCIS. Any category you'd like. Each story can only be posted once (still first come first served) and each member can only post one rec. Once your rec is posted, your posting access will be turned off for the rest of the month. If you try to cheat and sneak in two, the second rec post will be deleted. Let's keep it clean folks.

I realize that there are some fics that more than one person will want to reccomend, but this will give you the chance to hunt down a different gem.

Please use the standard formatting and include the Category(ies) that you are recommending the story for. This is to make it easier for me to add the stories to the memories.

Also, during this open time I'd like to encourage folks to comment on recs that others have posted. If they've recommended a story that you've enjoyed as well, let us know why you liked it.

Happy June!

I'm currently on cold medicine so PLEASE speak up if any of this doesn't make sense or if I've forgotten anything.

A big THANK YOU! to all of the folks who recommended stories for May. Y'all are awesome.

The sign-ups for June and forward are going to be done a bit differently, so the post for that will take a bit to put together. I'm hoping to have it up by tomorrow sometime.

As always, if you have comments/questions or whatever feel free to leave them here or shoot me an email.

Thanks!

It's still May where I am!

Rec Category: Hurt/Comfort
Pairing: None
Category: Angst, Hurt/Comfort
Warning:
Author on LJ: don't know
Author's Website: don't know.
Link: The Window

Why This Must Be Read:

When I first discovered this story it wasn't completed. I felt very unfulfilled at the way it ended and being new to ff.net I didn't realize that it hadn't been completed. Much later the final chapter was added and I felt the story had come full circle. This is the only story that Summertime seems to have written, and it's an interesting look at the way Tony's mind works when he's held captive, with no human contact, for months. His journey into madness is fascinating and frightening and you're not sure if he's ever going to come back.

Teaser:

He wasn’t a man who liked waiting.

When he had gone after Ari, he had gone after him knowing that the chase was going to be long, and even then, he had still been impatient. He had stalked around the office, burning midnight oil and forcing others to join him, and he knew that it had been unbearable. He’d known that even then but hadn’t cared - the chase was too important and the quarry too valuable for him to care.

He had gone after Dinozzo expecting that he would find Tony in a day, but even in the first twenty-four golden hours after Tony’s disappearance, he had felt the tension in him build to the breaking point. After the first forty-eight, he had rehearsed in his head everything he would do to the people who had dared to take Tony Dinozzo and not return him, immediately, and God help them if Tony was bruised. He’d thought about bruises because he hadn’t been able to think about anything else. So he had yelled at them to make the searches work faster, to trace the leads they didn’t have, and he had thought about all the things he would do when he found Tony. He had sipped his coffee and thought about shattered kneecaps and ripping their throats out, and he had smiled.

After the first week, the ideas had come whether he had wanted them or not. He would wake up with his hands curled into fists and leveled over his heart so that he could feel it pounding, trying to break out of his ribs. He’d rub the nightmares out of his eyes and spend the rest of the night in the office, trying to wrap his head around the why and how - but mostly the where. And he would be sitting there with his head in his hands when Kate would come up and hand him a coffee and explain that she hadn’t been able to sleep, either, and they both put their heads together and came up with - nothing.

At the end of the first month, he had heard Kate say to McGee that he’d broken more computer units this month alone than in the last year.

All they had was a note. Dinozzo had disappeared into thin air and all they had left of him was a note pinned to a door - a note with generic ink, generic paper, and no fingerprints. Just a plain sheet of white paper with one word: Look. So Gibbs did, even though he hated following orders. He looked. They all did.

At the end of the second month, he was told that his first priority could no longer be official.


The Window

Rec Category: Gibbs/DiNozzo
Pairing: Gibbs/DiNozzo
Category: Slash, First Time
Warning: Slash, mild suggestion of b&d, but nothing major
Author on LJ: blueraccoon
Author's Website: http://rebecca.compromisingpositions.net/
Link: http://rebecca.compromisingpositions.net/ncis/standalones/statusquo.htm

Why This Must Be Read:

blueraccoon is undoubtedly one of the best authors in NCIS. Pretty much all of her fic is worth reccing, which paradoxically sometimes leads to me forgetting to rec her. I think everyone must already know she's a must-read. *grins*

I love the ordinary way Tony gets outted in this story. Sometimes the plot devices we use to bring the boys together start to seem a little bit silly, and it's nice to read a fic in which it's just bad timing that makes it happen, because life is like that. I also love the way Tony misdirects the rest of the team in parts of this story. He's a master at that.

And the sex is, of course, incredibly hot. You expected anything else from blueraccoon? *grins*

Rec Category: Gibbs/DiNozzo
Pairing: Gibbs/DiNozzo
Category: Slash
Warning: Slash
Author on LJ: ksl2025
Author's Website: http://www.geocities.com/kslmag7/
Link: http://www.geocities.com/kslmag7/riskreward.html

Why This Must Be Read:

This is the first story in a whole series, the rest of which you can find on KSL's website. I enjoy the whole series, but I do love the first one the best.

There aren't a lot of long NCIS stories out there. That makes the ones that take the time to build their relationship slowly and thoroughly all the more wonderful. This story has hurt/comfort and (in character) romance and smut and a detailed backstory for Tony all woven through their everyday lives.

Risk and Reward

Rec Category: Friendship
Pairing: None
Category: Gen
Warning: None
Author on LJ: pixie_on_acid
Author's Website: Cha Oseye Tempest Thrain on ff.n
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2556851/1/

Why This Must Be Read:

As an fan of Tony's knows, sometimes you have to take the small fragments of his personality that the writers give us and read a lot more into them. They don't often show him being a good agent, but we see flashes of brilliance and we know Gibbs wouldn't keep him around if he wasn't. They show him alientating people almost all the time...but we've also seen him get information out of a suspect or a witness when the rest of the team came up dry.

One of the reason I like pixie_on_acid's stories so much is that she weaves these fragments of Tony into a coherent, interesting whole better than anyone else I've ever read. Certainly better than I have done myself. Her stories show Tony as I desperately wish we could see him on screen. I know this is the character that lives behind the thin facade that is all TPTB will show us. pixie_on_acid's Tony is absolutely in character, and yet he is also so much more.

This isn't my favorite story of hers. I already recced that one during my turn on crack_van and I was trying to avoid duplicates. I chose this story to rec because it features Gibbs coming to a realization about Tony and laying out, in his own mind, the kind of man Tony is. I'm quietly hoping that reading this fic may indoctrinate more people into writing this kind of Tony.

The Favoured

Rec Category: Friendship
Pairing: None
Category: Gen
Warning: None
Author on LJ: wiccagirl24
Author's Website: Her section at FanFiction.net
Link: http://community.livejournal.com/ncis_flashfic/76249.html

Why This Must Be Read:

I feel like I'm stretching the category a little for this story, but only because one of the participants in the various friendships is sort of an OC. This is an alternate universe in which Gibbs's first wife died shortly after Kelly was born. This fic is about Kelly meeting Abby for the first time (which means before McGee, Kate, or even Tony joined Gibbs's team), but I recced it for her interactions with the rest of the characters, which just seem so right to me. I also discovered upon finding this story to rec that there is a prequel and a sequel. I haven't read either of those--this story is standalone--but I'm looking forward to them.

Instant Connection

Rec Category: Angst
Pairing: Gibbs/DiNozzo - pre-slash
Category: Angst, pre-slash
Warning: pre-slash
Author on LJ: don't know
Author's Website: don't know.
Link: After Darkness

Why This Must Be Read:

Summary: Gibbs is permanently disabled in an explosion and leaves NCIS leaving Kate in charge. Tony leaves to talk to Gibbs.

This was written well before Hiatus and takes place in the Season 1 and 2 timeframe. Gibbs' stoicism and determination to leave his old world behind and Tony's determination to make him see how his team needs to still be in his life are well written. The way Gibbs realizes how his abrupt departure affected his team is very touching and real. Would that we had such a response in Season 4.

Teaser:

The curiously whitened pane of the storefront window bowed and cracked then surged toward them like a sheet on the wind. Gibbs’ hand pressed hard on his shoulder and the tone of his voice was deepened and stretched out, pulled into a frightening bass growl as he ordered, "Dooowwwnnn." Then Gibbs pivoted on his left foot, gaze fixed on the young boy who had just skateboarded past. He managed only a single step in the child’s direction before the flying tide of splintered glass caught the small body and surged, unheeding, onward. On his knees, Tony instinctively hid his face and neck behind his upraised arms. And then the shards burst over them.

After Darkness

Rec Category: Friendship
Pairing: None
Category: Gen
Warning: None
Author on LJ: kageygirl
Author's Website: http://www.kageygirl.com/
Link: http://community.livejournal.com/ncis_flashfic/59712.html

Why This Must Be Read:

This is a short and sweet story from the beginning of Gibbs and Abby's frienship. The reaction of the carnival guy made me giggle, and I could just see Gibbs smirking at him! Plus how can you not love a story that gives us the origins of Bert the Farting Hippo?

The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship

Rec Category: Tony
Pairing: DiNozzo/OFC, DiNozzo/Gibbs (maybe)
Category: Tony, Angst
Warning: Pre-Slash
Author on LJ: cupidsbow
Author's Website: cupidsbow Story Listing
Link: A Life at Sea

Why This Must Be Read:
This is a different kind of story in that Tony is involved in two non-NCIS related crimes in one night. Poor guy. We get to be inside Tony's head as he reacts to what's going on around him and, also, learn more about his less than ideal childhood. The writing is subtle, and the author does a good job of "showing" rather than "telling."

Before I begin my final rec of the month, I'd like to thank webbgirl for the oppurtunity to rec for both Gibbs and Ducky this month. It's been a hell of a lot of fun. and yes, that was a not-so-subtle attempt to cadge the post of reccing Gibbs/DiNozzo for June!

Rec Category: Gibbs
Pairing: Gibbs/DiNozzo
Category: Gibbs, gen
Warning: slash
Author on LJ: kelly_girl
Author's Website: none seems to be listed, but her NCIS is here on MTAC

'Four Ways Gibbs gets his boat out of the Basement' by Kelly Girl

Why This Must Be Read:

Even the most casual viewer of NCIS knows about Gibbs and *that* boat. Hell, my family (who are all fans of the show) can tell what season they're watching by the state of said boat (What can I say? Dorkitude runs deep in the Monster bloodline!).

We've all asked ourselves the question at least once (don't be shy... own up;)) Once done, how in the name of all that's sane/holy, is Gibbs going to get the boat out?

kelly_girl gives four possible ways that Gibbs gets that damn boat out. They provide beautiful, short, in character vingettes that are a pleasure to read. Not only that but any fic that includes the summary of (and I quote) "Summary: Gibbs. Boat. Basement." has to be worth a read. For the slash-phobic amoung you, skim read over vingette #3.

So, please read, enjoy and leave feedback for the author.

And final thing before I finish off... Please... those of you who are writers out there... write more Gen please?! thank you!

Just a reminder to all of those who volunteered for May that the month is over tomorrow. *g*

Sign ups for June and months beyond will go up tomorrow.

Rec Category: Gibbs
Pairing: None listed but those with slash goggles might see Gibbs/DiNozzo
Category: Gibbs, gen
Warning: none
Author on LJ: none that I can see/find
Author's Website: Devix's stories on MTAC

'Why it doesn't rain in Mexico' by Devix

Why This Must Be Read:
Having come to NCIS later than most (I've been watching at DVD speed on the whole), I missed the whole 'Hiatus' meowboom. Having watched those two episodes on DVD recently, I can see why so many writers have written fic about those two episodes.

It can be argued that one of the purposes of fanfic is putting things 'right' or at least 'less crooked'. In that instance, this story performs that task admirably. With Gibbs, it's as much what he doesn't say as what he does. Especially where Tony is concerned.

So, go read and leave feedback for the author!

(I know I'm way behind on my recs for this month and I apologize. I had intended to be much better, but it didn't work out that way. I will get 'em all done, but there'll be a bit of a rush at the end of the month. Sorry about that.)

Rec Category: Gibbs/DiNozzo
Pairing: Gibbs/DiNozzo
Category: PWP
Warning: Slash
Author on LJ: kelly_girl
Author's Website: her journal's "fic" tag
Link: http://ncisfic.com/viewstory.php?storyid=124

Why This Must Be Read:
Oddly, there are several NCIS stories in which Gibbs and Tony's first time occurs via phone sex. This is one of them, the first one I read and loved, actually. There's no explanation for why Gibbs launches them into the phone sex, but you forget about that pretty fast because the dirty talk is scorching. Not only that, but the boys have very distinct, in character voices even through the smutty talk. It's hard to make characters sound different from each other when they're talking dirty at each other, but kellygirl manages beautifully.

The Phone Call

Rec Category: Abby/Kate
Pairing: Abby/Kate
Category: Romance, Slash
Author on LJ: ncruuk 
Author's Website: ncruuk 
Link: Call Waiting

Why This Must Be Read: It's cute and fluffy Kate and Abby! A brief snapshot of their relationship that includes fun, flirting, and poking fun at Dinozzo. How could it get much better?