#Promises made fanfic ncis

[earanemith]

sorry not sorry

Yes you see that right. I am pregnant!!!

Thats mostly why Ive been kinda absent. So sorry not sorry for everyone waiting on an update of promises made. Ive been in this rollercoaster. Im 10 weeks along. Only thing i can promise at this time i wont abandon it.

Anyway im of on my cloud of happiness again!!

[earanemith]

i think i may be classified as the second one

[lgbtpopcult]

What cool WLW projects do we know are coming in 2024?

Drive-Away Dolls

Arguably the most important representation of the year comes from a movie directed by one of the Coen brothers. Ethan Coen directs this wacky comedy that is very much in style for him.

Synopsis:

This comedy caper follows Jamie, an uninhibited free spirit bemoaning yet another breakup with a girlfriend, and her demure friend Marian who desperately needs to loosen up. In search of a fresh start, the two embark on an impromptu road trip to Tallahassee, but things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals along the way.

Lost Records: Bloom and Rage

A game had to be added to this list and here it is, the best one. From the creators who gave us Life is strange. Lost Records: Bloom and Rage tells the story of four friends who experience a transformative summer in 1995. After 27 years of no contact, Nora, Swann, Autumn, and Kat are reunited by fate and forced to confront the long-buried secret that made them agree to never speak again all those years ago. From the teaser alone it is obvious at least two of them dated.

Pluto

A Thai gl from GMMTV, known for its successful Thai dramas. The story is the telenovela cliche we've always wanted. Two girls in love. One gets in an accident and her twin takes her place to find out who was behind her accident, the other girl is blind. The twin has to fake being the real one so has to be in a relationship with the blind girl and of course falls in love with her. Match made in fanfic heaven.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

It was announced so long ago people are getting frustrated. However, with both a writer and a director now attached to the project, and the strikes over, we have every reason to believe we will finally get to see the hit novel, that centers the love story between two closeted Hollywood actresses, come to life. Whether you loved the novel or were indifferent and didn't see what the fuss was about, it is a very successful wlw romance and we want to see it on screen!

The Paying Guests

The director that brought us Carol adapting a book by the author of Fingersmith? Yes please!

Speaking to Indiewire, Haynes revealed he’s developing an adaptation of Sarah Waters’ 2014 novel The Paying Guests. “It’s a three-part limited series that would need to be a British production, but it’s a really great novel.” Set in post-WWI London, the drama is part lesbian love story and part murder mystery following a down-and-out widow and her daughter, the latter taking up a relationship with one of their lodgers. Waters also wrote Fingersmith, which was adapted into The Handmaiden by Park Chan-wook.

NCIS Hawaii season 3

One of our favorite pairings of last year, Kate and Lucy are the main couple of their show and they carry it well. They look good together, have progress and evolution in their relationship and have fun working together.

The Secret of Us

Thai channel CH3 is expected to hit us strong with this Thai gl. CH3 is big in Thailand so this one is a big deal. The story is the typical exes meet again trope and it's magnificent. It centers Doctor Fahlada, nicknamed Doctor Angel. She is trying to hide the pain after being abandoned by the woman she loved. But then...by chance that woman comes back into her life.

Whisper Me a Love Song

Our resident anime entry has to be Whisper me a love song. Based on a manga it is the story of Himari Kino. On the first day of entering high school, Himari Kino "falls" for her senior, Yori Asanagi, whom she watched singing with a band at the welcome party for new students. When Himari confesses her admiration to Yori, Yori misinterprets Himari's feelings as romantic love. However, before Yori realizes, she comes to fall for Himari anyway, and promises to win her affections for real.

Bad Sisters season 2

Bad Sisters is one of the best reviewed and hilarious shows on this list. Coming back for a season 2 was inevitable. Bibi, the lesbian sister, will keep entertaining us in 2024.

Station 19 season 7

One of the most enduring shows and wlw couples on TV are coming back for a season 7! That is a lot of seasons but Maya and Carina do still have that spark.

About Galaxy The Series

Part of the gl renaissance that is expected to go full force next year, this series is already hugely popular among Asian romance fans.

Synopsis:

‘About Galaxy’ is based on author Zezeho’s yuri of the same name, with a Thai title of “มูลค่าดาวล้านดวง”. The story revolves around Hong Yok, a designer who has a big scar on her face which led her to hide away from the public due to her inferiority complex. But something changed in her life when she met Note, a woman she was measuring clothes, and realized she is the same person who gave her that huge scar! However, despite the incident, she doesn’t outright despise her, and instead… feels safe. What will happen to the two women?

My Ex-Friend's Wedding

Kay Cannon ("Blockers") will direct from a script co-written by Taylor Jenkins Reid? Staring a group of friends trying to stop their friend from getting married? And one of them is queer? We're all in!

Arcane (Season 2)

It seems like forever since we first watched Arcane but we're definitely looking forward to season 2. Needs no introduction.

Dream the Series

We already have enough Asian dramas in this list but we couldn't leave out one of the most anticipated gl, Dream. The story is that of a woman that sees a girl in her dreams every night only to meet her in real life. While in real life they are friends in her dreams they do much more. She thinks her friend doesn't know about that what she doesn't know is that she also remembers everything they do in their dreams.

Harley Quinn the Animated Series season 5

Another season of our favorite criminal duo Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy? Yes please and thank you. These two, and this particular iteration of them, might be the best representation American television has ever given us.

Chaser Game W

Chaser Game W is the first gl produced by TV Tokyo so it has a historic significance for the advancement of representation for queer women in Japan. First episode airs January 8. Based on manga series "Chaser Game" written by Hiroshi Matsuyama & illustrated by Yukitaro Matsuyama

The story:

synopsis: Itsuki has been working in the "Dynamic Dream" game company for five years and is now appointed as the lead for a big Japanese-Chinese collaboration project, which she is fully motivated to work on. However, it turns out the Chinese company team is led by her ex, Fuyu, whom she one-sidedly broke up with back in university! After breaking up with Fuyu, Itsuki never dated anyone else and chose to focus on her work, all while not coming out to her family and coworkers... But when her ex-girlfriend suddenly appeared in front of her, her feelings immediately started to sway. Meanwhile, Fuyu always resented Itsuki for breaking up with her without saying why. She takes charge of the project and pushes impossible tasks onto Itsuki. While Fuyu plots her revenge, Itsuki is rekindling her unrequited love. What will the outcome be for these two opposites?

Vigil season 2

The first couple of episodes of Vigil season 2 will technically be shown in December 2023 (in the UK only) but we'll basically be able to watch it beginning 2024 and we're looking forward to it!

Several upcoming TV shows and movies have cast actors that make it obvious they'll have lesbian and bi characters but until we know whether the representation will be enough to be worth watching we're holding off on making that other, more elaborate, list.

[television-overload]

What Really Happened

(an NCIS fanfic)

September 2024. Tali has some questions about her parents' trip to Paris nearly fifteen years prior, and she's determined to get the details.

Written for the September 2024 Tiva Fic Challenge! This month's prompt was "Jet Lag: What Really Happened?"

Read on AO3

For as long as Tali could remember, her father had told her a story. 

Twenty-four hours in Paris. A whirlwind trip, romantic and magical. The thing is, every time he told the story, it was different. Details changed, dialogue was exaggerated to unbelievable proportions… What it lacked in detail, it made up for in sentimentality. 

“And then I told her she was the most beautiful thing in the city, even prettier than the Eiffel Tower when it sparkles.”

“Did you kiss?” Tali would ask, eyes twinkling.

“Uh, yeah, of course. Now will you go to bed?”

Tali could see, now, he just told her whatever would get her to sleep the quickest. While she hadn’t understood back then, it couldn’t have been easy to be so suddenly thrust into fatherhood with no warning. But it never mattered to her. He was her Abba, and he was the best dad she could have asked for.

“No, tell me more!” she’d demand. “What did Ima look like?”

He would adjust the frame on her bed stand, gazing wistfully at the picture within.

“She looked like an angel, just like you.”

Only a few things stayed the same with every retelling, as far as she could figure: Her mother and father together in Paris, a quaint cafe not far from the tourist sites, and a Vespa scooter that they rode around the city together. 

That all may have suited her just fine as a bedtime story when she was little, but Tali was almost eleven years old, now. She could tell she wasn't being told the full truth, and she had a feeling some of the details he would recite were entirely fabricated. She'd done the math, compared the story with what she knew of their lives before she was born—what others who knew them then had told her. Oh yeah, she had sources.

It just didn’t match up.

Time to test out those detective skills to get to the bottom of it. Surely those were genetic?

There was a box in her parents’ closet. It had been there as long as they’d lived here, shipped over from the U.S. when they first moved. Mostly, she figured it held boring stuff like paperwork and whatever else had been in her father’s desk at NCIS before he quit. But maybe there was more. Maybe it contained all the answers to every question she’d ever wondered about her parents.

Or maybe not.

Kneeling on the floor of the closet, she surveyed the contents of the plain cardboard box. It was a mess of papers. Considering the journey it had taken across an ocean and later from their old apartment to their new one, she wasn’t surprised. There were a few other items mixed in, a colorful stapler with a cartoon mouse on it, a few dusty looking service awards…

And an envelope. Now that looked promising.

Reaching in, she pulled it out, growing more and more certain that what she held was a stack of photographs. Photographs of what, she could only guess. Had she found clues that might explain what her parents had been doing in Paris years before they would ever move here? If not, what other pictures might her father have kept in his desk at work?

She held her breath as she opened it, carefully plucking at the corner of one of the colorful prints as she pulled it from the stack.

“What do you think you are doing?”

Tali jumped, only narrowly avoiding throwing the pictures across the room in reflex.

“Ima!” she squeaked, wondering if it was too late to hide them behind her back. The box wasn’t off-limits, per se, but it did have a sort of mystical quality that made digging around in it feel like a breach of some code. It was from a time long past—a time her parents didn’t talk about much, at least when she was around.

But there her mother stood in the doorway to her room, arms crossed over her chest as she fixed a suspicious glare in her direction.

“I was just—”

Her words trailed off as her mother’s expression quickly shifted from suspicion to curiosity. “What do you have there?” she asked, her folded arms falling to her sides as she made her way across the room, glancing down at the box splayed open in the closet.

Tali held out the envelope. Well, this had been a mission failure, she thought—at least the stealthy, ninja-like aspect of it. It remained to be seen if she had in fact found what she was looking for. 

“Just some pictures, I think,” she mumbled, handing them over reluctantly.

Her ima slipped them out of the envelope and flipped through them, the corners of her mouth quirking up in a wistful smile.

“Honey, I’m home!” a voice singsonged from the entry hall, echoey and distant. 

Her dad. 

He’d started saying that when he got home from work as a joke, but now he did it unironically. It got old pretty quick, but she did find it endearing, in a way. 

“Hey, where is everybody?” he asked, his voice getting louder and clearer with proximity. Before long, he was peeking his head around the doorway. “Uh oh, am I in trouble?” he asked, taking note of the box at their feet. “I swear I threw out those old magazines before we moved.”

Tali briefly wondered what magazines he could possibly be talking about, and why he would have a physical copy of a magazine in the first place, but she was much more interested in the photos her mom was holding.

“Look what our daughter found,” her ima said, waving the glossy prints in her father’s direction.

“Not the… in California…”

Her ima laughed. “No. Not those ones.”

Her father looked somewhat relieved. “Ah, then it must be the ones from my brief stint as a travel photographer,” he mused aloud, setting his briefcase aside and approaching their huddle by the closet. He took one look at the photos in her hand and grinned. “I still think that’s my favorite picture, by the way,” he said, nodding down at the one she held separate from the others, then dipping down to press a quick kiss to her lips.

“I didn’t actually get to see them,” Tali pouted, crossing her arms with a huff. “Ima took them away before I could see what they were.”

Her mother shared a look with her father, communicating in that infuriatingly wordless way they always did. What were they smirking at?

“Why don’t we go sit down on the couch in the living room and we can look through them together, my love,” Ima said at last, flicking off the light in the closet. 

Tali supposed that was agreeable. Whatever she had found, she could at least now be certain they were photos from her parents’ past. She followed them out to the sofa, taking a seat between them on the cushions.

“You know what these are?” her mother asked, finally granting her a peek at what she had unearthed from the box.

It took all her self control not to whoop in excitement when she spotted familiar streets and buildings in just the first few photos. 

Jackpot. 

“Dad told me,” she said, smiling as she came across one of Ima looking through postcards at a shop. That must be her father’s favorite. “You guys came to Paris.”

Her mother nodded. “We were sent here for work, that’s right.”

Wait, go back a second.

“For work?” Tali asked, her forehead crinkling in confusion. “Dad never told me that.”  

“He—” Ima’s head slowly turned in her father’s direction, fixing him with a meaningful glare. “What did he tell you?” she asked, her tone light and inquisitive, but Tali could sense the undercurrent of tension her comment had sparked. Dad was in troubleee.

She glanced at him quickly before answering. “Well… It all sounded very… romantic,” she spoke. To her left, her father looked like he was trying to disappear into the cushions, an awkward grin pulling at his lips. 

Oh, Abba, surely you knew this would one day come back to bite you?

“Tony!” Ima shouted predictably, smacking him in the arm. “Why did you lie to Tali?”

“I didn’t��lie to her,” he asserted, chuckling nervously.

“You told me that you kissed her on the Eiffel Tower!” Tali said, adding fuel to the flame. Ima's jaw dropped, and she shot him a look. It was funny to watch her dad squirm. Only Ima could make him do that.

He held his hands up in surrender. “Okay, I may have embellished a little,” he acknowledged.

Her mother grabbed the nearest throw pillow off the couch and used it to wallop him in the face, all the while concealing a smile. A woosh of air from the attack blew Tali’s hair back, and she giggled uncontrollably, falling back into the cushions.

“Tony, you have never kissed me on the Eiffel Tower,” she countered irritably.

“I haven’t? Well, we should go fix that,” he said, pretending to get to his feet to leave.

Tali rolled her eyes. “Daaaad.”

He sat back down. “Alright, another time,” he acquiesced. “To be fair, what happened in Paris has always been a bit of a secret between your mom and I. I distinctly remember you lying to Nora on that plane, sweetcheeks.”

“And you lied to McGee,” her mom fired back without missing a beat.

“I knew it,” Tali whispered. Okay, so she knew a little more than she was letting on. Uncle Tim will be delighted that she got a confession out of them.

“I’ll admit it,” Dad started, getting serious once more. “The bedtime story version wasn’t quite the truth.” 

Well yeah, that was obvious. 

“The truth is, we were on assignment for NCIS,” he continued. “Not very romantic, huh? I guess the way I told it is how I wish it had happened. How it should have happened, if I hadn’t been such a coward.”

This brought a fond, slightly sad smile to her mother’s face, and Tali could feel an arm drape over the back of the couch behind her.

“I wouldn’t say it was entirely unromantic,” Ima said, her fingers playing with the short hair at the back of her dad’s head. “She is old enough to hear this story, yes?” she said, her eyes imploring him to agree with her.

“Most of it,” he answered, breathing out a laugh. “I think she can live without the knitting needle incident until she’s a little older.”

“Agreed.”

Tali crossed her legs on the couch, looking back and forth between her parents. She waited with bated breath for the story to begin, but they sure were taking their sweet time.

Sometimes this happened. They'd just go silent and stare at each other with dopey smiles on their faces until someone or something snapped them out of it. It was annoying.

“Hello?” she said, hopefully reminding them of her presence. “You were saying?”

Her dad was the first to break eye contact, reaching out for the stack of photos and flipping through them.

“Right,” he started. “Do you want to start, or should I, sweetcheeks?”

“You go,” Ima said with a nod. “I want to see if you are capable of remembering this correctly.”

Dad opened his mouth as if to argue, but Tali, with the gift of foresight, distracted him with a question before he could start.

“So, what was the assignment?” she asked, blinking up at him imploringly.

“Protection detail,” he answered, shifting his attention back to her. “A witness who needed safe passage back to the U.S. for a trial. Nora was her name.”

“So you just went there to pick her up and that was it?” Tali asked, desperately hoping that wasn't the case. How boring would that be? No, she knew they had fond memories of the trip. There had to be more than that.

“Pretty much,” her dad answered. “But we flew in the day before, so we got to explore a little bit.”

“Tell me!”

Her mother chuckled, shaking her head at Tali's eagerness.

“Your father wouldn't stop making movie references the entire time we were in the city,” she said. “I think as soon as we stepped foot in the airport, he thought we were on some kind of grand adventure. I had to remind him we were there on business, and that we needed to check into the hotel before doing anything else.”

“You should have seen McGee's face when the Director picked us to go,” her dad said with a laugh. “Oh, it was priceless.”

“What happened next?” Tali implored.

Her father crossed his arms and kicked his feet up on the coffee table in front of the couch. “Well, your mom convinced me that we needed to go drop our stuff off at the hotel first, so we caught a taxi. Secretly, I think she just wanted to freshen up, fix her hair and makeup and all that after being stuck on a plane for so long. She had a crush on me back then, you know.”

His eyes met her ima’s here, one eyebrow twitching upward teasingly.

“Oh, shut up,” Ima said, rolling her eyes.

“It's true!”

“Not a crush, that was earlier. This was something different.”

“Looove?” he singsonged, his grin infectious.

“Nooo,” Ima sang right back, matching his tone. “I do not know. Maybe. I do not think even I knew what it was at the time.”

“Well I was pretty in love with you,” he responded, practically radiating heart eyes in her direction. “Obviously.”

“You were not so obvious. I thought you were just being a goofball,” Ima spoke.

Any easy mistake, Tali thought.

“I was trying to flirt with you, but clearly I didn't succeed,” he corrected. “You know, Tali, your mom refused to go sightseeing with me.”

Tali turned to her mother, surprised. “What? Why?”

“We had a mission, I was trying to keep things professional,” she said in her defense. “It was in the best interest of our witness that we get a good night's rest and stay on task.”

Yeah, but that sounded boring.

Her father, evidently, agreed. “You're no fun,” he said with an exaggerated pout.

“I went to dinner with you, didn't I?” Ima asked.

He begrudgingly nodded. “She did go to dinner with me, I'll give her that.”

“And was the dinner not romantic?”

“Hard to find somewhere to eat that doesn't fit that description in this city,” he countered.

Ziva waved her hand in the air with finality. “There you go.”

Tali couldn’t help but feel that they’d gotten a little off track, but it was still fun to hear about their time together before she was born. She tried to picture them, younger than she’d ever seen them and probably a little wilder, too. She wanted to know more.

“So you went to dinner,” Tali summarized, nudging them to tell the rest of the story. “You didn't go anywhere else?”

Ima jumped in next. “Well, your father… He had rented a scooter—you know about the scooter,” she said, referring to the one in the picture Tali still kept on her nightstand. Tali nodded emphatically. This was one element of the story that had remained consistent throughout every retelling. Her mother continued, “He got us so lost on the way back to the hotel after dinner, that eventually I had to tell him to stop so I could ask someone for directions.”

At this, her father looked highly pleased with himself, his small smile concealing an even wider grin. 

“Can I let you in on a little secret, sweetcheeks?” he said.

“Hm?”

“I wasn't lost. I knew exactly where we were the whole time.”

Ima’s jaw dropped open, and Tali thought her dad was lucky that Ima was all out of pillows on her side of the couch that could be used as ammunition.

“Tony! We drove around for at least an hour!” she chastised. 

“Exactly! How else was I going to take you to look at the pretty lights around the city, or to all the big tourist sites?”

“I cannot believe you.”

“Come on, you loved it,” he said knowingly, tilting his head at her. “You got to put your arms around me for a whole hour.”

Ima raised an eyebrow and Tali could tell she was determinedly resisting the urge to laugh. “Are you sure that was not your motivation for it, then?”

“Oh, it absolutely was,” he answered easily. “If that was the only time I'd get to feel your arms around me, I was gonna make the most of it.”

Blegh, Tali thought. That was one thing that made her different from most kids in her class. Her parents really really loved each other. And they weren’t afraid to show it.

“I did enjoy it,” Ima admitted. “I liked that cologne you used to wear.”

“Well, that's good,” he said, smiling, “I practically drenched myself in it whenever I knew I'd be working in close quarters with you. I think maybe I hoped it would be like some kind of magic potion that would make you fall madly in love with me.”

“I guess it worked,” her mother teased with a shrug, which her father got a kick out of.

“I guess it did,” he said. “Though I hope you love me for more than just the way I smell. That cologne went out of production years ago.”

Ima’s eyes shone, equal parts charmed and amused. “I do. You know I do.” 

His lips pulled back in a smile and he leaned forward, meeting Ima’s lips with his own right in front of Tali. She was practically squished between them, forced to endure their display of affection at close range.

“Would you two like to sit next to each other?” she asked, unimpressed. “I feel like I'm not even here.”

Her parents withdrew, her father suppressing a laugh. “Sorry, where were we?”

“Dinner,” she reminded him.

“Right,” he started. “Well, before dinner, we walked around for a bit, looked at all the little shops. That's when I took this picture of your Ima,” he said, holding out the one of her at the postcard stand. “Pretty good, huh?”

“I still think it would look better in black and white,” Ima spoke, looking at it with a critical eye.

“Maybe we could get a copy made, hang it on the wall,” her father offered, which elicited a chuckle.

“Now, I would not go that far.”

“Did you buy anything?” Tali asked, wondering what someone who didn’t live in the city might want to take home with them as a memento.

“Just some souvenirs,” Dad answered. “And a postcard for McGee. ‘Wish you were here!’”

Ima smiled. “Then we sat and ate dinner.”

“You looked so beautiful that day,” her father mused, gazing fondly at the photograph in hand. “I really do wish I had kissed you. I drove you right by the Eiffel Tower.”

“Which was nowhere near our hotel,” she reminded him.

“Pretty sure we've established that I was being sneaky.”

“What happened when you got back to the hotel?” Tali asked.

Ima looked suspiciously at her. “You are being very nosy today, motek. Why the sudden questions?”

Tali shrugged, keeping her face neutral. “I've just always wondered, that's all.”

Ima narrowed her eyes, not fully accepting that as an answer, but eventually, she continued. “Well, we actually had a nice hotel to stay at, for once. Usually when we traveled, at least in the States, NCIS would book us rooms at the cheapest motels they could find.”

“But not this time?”

She shook her head. “Not this time. They wanted us somewhere close to the embassy, where we would be picking up our witness.”

“Wow.” Their jobs sounded so cool, sometimes. Of course, she knew there was a lot of un-cool stuff they hadn’t told her, but what she did know sounded fun. She still sometimes had a hard time believing her boring old parents were once gun-toting federal agents, chasing down bad guys and saving the day. It seemed even more improbable that her Grampa Gibbs had done the same.

“You're skipping over a very important part of the story, Zee-vah,” her father said smugly, bringing her attention back to the tale. “Tell her what the front desk lady said when we tried to check in!”

Ima rolled her eyes and huffed. “Tony, I can tell you want to say this part, so why don't you just do it?”

He grinned excitedly. “Fine. I will. So we walked in this huge, beautiful lobby, right? And I went up to the desk and said, ‘Excuse me, ma’am. There should be two rooms under the name DiNozzo for us, please.’”

“Two rooms?” Tali asked.

“We were just friends back then, you see,” her abba explained. “Actually, we had been going through a bit of a rough patch. Friends might have been pushing it.”

Ima was quick to correct that. “You were my friend, Tony,” she said, looking at him kind of sadly.

He gave a nod. “Friends, then. But not together. And since we were there for work, it was agency policy for two agents of opposite gender to stay in separate rooms.”

That made sense, Tali supposed.

“But then…” Ima started.

“Hey, you said I could tell this part,” her father whined.

“Alright, then get to the point,” she waved him on.

“But then,” he repeated, “the woman at the desk said there was some misunderstanding with our reservation, and they only had one room for us.”

Misunderstanding? Or mischief on Uncle Tim's part as some form of payback for not getting to go to Paris, Tali wondered. She made a mental note to ask him the next time she talked to him.

“Would you have gotten in trouble?” she asked instead.

“We probably would have gotten a slap on the wrist from H.R., and a slap on the head from Gibbs. But no one ever found out,” her father answered.

From what Tali had heard from Uncle Tim, he knew something about what happened. But the specifics were out of his reach too. That’s where Tali came in.

“God, I was so in love with you,” her abba said, gazing lovingly at her ima. “It was pathetic. I don't know how you could have missed it. That mixup with the rooms was like my wildest dream coming true.”

“Tony…”

“I'm sorry if I drove you crazy that night,” he continued, ignoring her attempt to stop him. “I think I was a little drunk on the wine we'd had at dinner still.”

“You were not drunk. I know, because I let you drive us home. You were just… Tony.”

“Mm. Just me, huh?” he asked, smirking at her with a pleased look on his face. 

“I found it endearing. Even if I wasn't quite sure how to handle the situation.”

“She offered to take the couch,” he informed Tali. “I told her that she was being ridiculous, that the ginormous bed was big enough for the two of us to share, but she tried to insist. Eventually, I threatened to take the couch myself, and she came to her senses.”

“If I had given up the couch to you, you would have complained about your back the whole flight home the next day,” Ima pointed out.

“Would not!”

Tali had to agree with her mother, here. “Dad, that does sound like you,” she said.

“Now you're ganging up on me! That's not fair!”

“Your father was the perfect gentleman that night, Tali,” Ima continued. “Believe me, I was surprised too. Not even one joke about our situation.”

Her dad seemed shocked at this information as well. “Really? I didn't make any jokes at all?” he asked.

Ima shook her head. “None that I can remember.”

“Huh,” he said. “I was probably too nervous myself to say anything.”

“Why were you nervous?” Tali asked. 

“Because,” he started, draping his arm over the back of the couch and over Ima’s shoulder, “sharing a bed with someone—especially someone you're secretly pining for—is a very intimate thing. You kind of lose your sense of personal space. Whatever mask you put on during the day comes off, whether you want it to or not.”

“You guys wore masks during the day?” Tali questioned. She pictured superhero masks, or maybe the kind you wear when you’re sick.

“Not that kind of mask,” he corrected. “I mean the emotional kind, when you don't want other people to see how you're really feeling, so you pretend to feel something else. I used to do that a lot when I was younger, and not quite as wise as I am today.”

“As did I,” Ima agreed.

Tali’s face screwed up in confusion. Everything seemed so simple. Why did they make it seem so complicated? 

“Why didn't you just tell each other the truth?” she asked.

This time, her mother answered. “We did, more than we told others at least. But that was a very difficult time for your father and I. We were just learning how to trust each other again.”

“Didn't you always trust each other? You were partners!”

Dad’s knee bumped companionably against her own. “You have to understand, Tali, our jobs were very difficult. I don't think you’re ready for the full story quite yet, but your mom had just been through something horrible and scary, and part of it was my fault.”

Ima’s face fell, and she shook her head. “Tony. It was not your fault,” she said.

“At least some of the blame was mine,” he insisted.

“No. Tony, do not think that way.”

He gave her a small, placating smile. “Alright, we'll agree to disagree,” he said. “But the point is, Tali, it was a very strange time for the two of us. Being completely honest with each other wasn't something we were particularly good at.”

“But we got through it,” she said, reaching for his hand.

He smiled, eyes watering as he lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to her fingers. “Yes. Yes we did. We just danced around a lot of things we probably should have discussed much sooner.”

“Like the fact that you loved each other?” Tali offered.

Her dad gave a dry chuckle. “Oh yeah. That was the biggest one of all.”

“We were not ready for that conversation yet, motek,” Ima said, running a hand through Tali’s hair.

“But that didn't stop you from getting all cozy with me that night, did it, sweetheart?”

He waggled his eyebrows at her, teasing her playfully.

“I think that is probably enough for one day,” Ima said, trying her hardest not to smile at his antics. Her cheeks blossomed pink.

“No, let's keep going!” he said, spurring her on. “Look at you blushing, I can't believe you still get embarrassed talking about this!”

“I am not embarrassed, Tony,” she countered.

“You aren't? Could have fooled me. When I brought it up in the morning at that cafe, I thought you were going to strangle me for mentioning it in broad daylight.”

Tali giggled at this back-and-forth that they were so good at. It wasn’t often that her dad managed to get under Ima’s skin in this way, it was usually the other way around.

“I thought there was a mutual agreement never to speak of that night again,” Ima responded, her voice low.

“Well, I never agreed to any such thing.”

Things just got curiouser and curiouser, Tali thought, intrigued. “What? What happened?” she asked eagerly.

“Well, we started out the night happily keeping to our own sides of the bed,” her abba explained. “A nice, sensible space between us.”

“I was asleep, Tony, I cannot be held accountable for–”

“But then your ima, here, decided that I made a much better pillow than the one she was using, so I got a face full of Ziva hair.”

Tali laughed, her mother’s indignant attempts to correct him striking her as utterly hilarious.

“If you were awake, you could have very easily pushed me off you,” Ima argued.

“Now why would I do that?”

“Because, Tony, we were supposed to be keeping a respectable distance!”

“Counterpoint: Your hair smelled really good and, oh yeah, I was super in love with you.”

Ima huffed, having no comeback for such a line. “So you have mentioned.”

“Anyway, it was the best night's sleep I'd ever had,” her father finished. “Ziva?”

“What?”

“Would you agree?” he asked.

Ima blew out a breath, thinking it over. “Well, at the time, I often dealt with nightmares.”

“And?”

“And… You just want me to admit that I woke up in the middle of the night and didn't go back to my side of the bed, don't you?” Ima stared accusingly at Dad.

“Maybe.”

She rolled her eyes. “Alright, yes, I did. I was comfortable, and the dreams weren't as bad as usual for some reason.”

“Hmm, I wonder what that reason was,” Dad said sarcastically, tapping a finger thoughtfully on his chin. But then he looked at Ima again and smiled, his expression melting into one of adoration. “I wish you would have told me all this back then,” he said. “Could have saved both of us a lot of trouble.”

“No point in dwelling on it now,” Ima surmised, and he gently rubbed her shoulder before pulling back.

“When I woke up in the morning, she was still in my arms, conked out and snoring like a freight train,” he continued his tale.

“What a lovely sight that must have been,” Ima said sarcastically.

“It was!” he said. “I could have laid like that forever. I guess, now I get to.”

More mushy stuff. Great. “Okay, I get it. You love each other. Now is that it?” Tali asked.

Dad shrugged. “Pretty much. The next morning your mom got all awkward and tried to pretend we hadn't just spent the night cuddling in the most romantic city in the world,” he narrated.

“Meanwhile, your father woke up in an unnervingly pleasant mood and hurried off to go sightseeing, while I headed to a cafe for a late breakfast.”

Tali turned to her father. “What did you go see, dad?”

“Well, the embassy isn't too far from here, actually,” he spoke, glancing toward the window in their living room. “I drove around for a bit, past the Louvre, saw everything in that area. Took lots of pictures.”

“And then we met up at the cafe for a little while before it was time to pick up our witness,” Ima finished.

“That's when we got that picture taken. The one in your room.”

Her dad told her, sometimes, about the moment he realized she knew who he was. How that picture had been her connection to him before they met, and how it later connected her to her mother while she was away.

Their family’s story was a strange one. For a long time, she hadn't known the particulars, of course. But she was the only kid at school whose mom was off who-knows-where hiding from who-knows-who and doing who-knows-what. Not that she was allowed to talk about any of that. She only picked up bits and pieces when her dad would talk to Pop Pop after she'd gone to bed, and her memories of those conversations were pretty fuzzy.

She also never fully grasped the significance of the lack of pictures from when she was a baby, or the fact that she had been born in Israel, while her father lived in the U.S.

But now, she had begun to piece some things together, and it made her a little sad. She wondered if she would ever fully understand what had happened. Why, until she was six, they had never been a family together, all in one place.

The fact that her parents had been so close, and yet so far from their happy ending back then… Almost fifteen years ago, now…

“Is that why you wanted us to live in Paris?” she asked her father.

“I guess so,” he said, reaching for Ima's hand. “Part of me, I think, hoped we'd find her here right away. Like maybe that picture frame in your bag had been a message telling me where to meet her. But also, yes. We had nothing but good memories here. Seemed a good place for a fresh start.”

“The same cannot be said for the airplane we took back to America with our witness,” Ima joked, lightening the mood.

“Oh, no. Definitely not,” Dad agreed. “If I wanted to experience mortal peril on an airplane, I would just watch Liam Neeson in ‘Non-Stop.’ But then, that movie hadn't come out yet. Come to think of it, I feel like we should have been contacted for our expertise by the studio that made that movie. Do you think they could have given us writing credits?”

Tali sensed that the rest of the story would have to wait for another day. Most of their case stories were like that. Just a couple more years, then maybe she’d be old enough.

“Thanks for telling me,” she said, interrupting her father’s rambling about movies.

“Of course, neshama sheli,” Ima said, placing her hand on her knee.

“Anytime, kiddo. This was fun.”

“And?” Ima prompted.

“And,” he continued, “I’m sorry for making up stories when you were little. I should have told you the truth.”

Tali looked at him, smiling when his eyes met hers. She leaned into his side, and he lifted his arm, welcoming her in for an embrace.

“It’s okay,” she assured him. “I liked your stories. They were like fairy tales.”

He sighed. “If only it had really been like a fairy tale.”

“It is, though!” Tali said seriously, leaning back to face him. “You got your happily ever after, right?”

Dad’s eyes lifted to meet Ima’s, and they shared a smile, another one of their silent conversations.

“You are right, Tali,” Ima said, eyes shining with some deep emotion. “Maybe we had a fairy tale ending after all.”

-.-.-

Tali waited until her parents had gone to bed before sneaking out of her own room and into the kitchen. She found the phone out on the countertop where her father had left it, and quickly navigated to the right name in his contact list.

She pressed the call button and the phone rang. While she waited, she tried to mentally count backwards and estimate the time it was in D.C., but that was entirely too much math for this time of night.

Eventually, the line connected with a click.

“McGee,” the voice on the other end spoke.

“Uncle Tim!” Tali said in a whisper.

“Hey, Trouble!” he greeted jovially. “Whatcha got for me?”

Tali’s chest bubbled with giddiness, and she bit her lip to keep from shouting the answer.

“Uncle Tim, they told me everything!”

-.-.-

Tags <3 @tiva-fic-challenges @benedettabeby @butwhenthesuncameup @earanemith @hopeless-nostalgiac @indestinatus @loudlooks @mrsmungus @nicolem194 @putthekettleon @slippery-soapbox @tivafanfic @tivajunkie @tonysziva @whoa-myninja

[jaggedwolf]

Kate x Lucy

when I started shipping it if I did: pilot episode kiss, ngl, where it establishes that they must already be on-and-off hooking up in between sniping at each other about classified information. Lucy just shows up at her apartment!

my thoughts: when I watched this show I was genuinely bewildered by how this CBS procedural NCIS spin-off....just has a whole-ass lesbian romcom happening in its first season? The S1 finale literally ends on them getting together via a grand gesture with the rest of the team cheering.

anyway, they're so fun! they hit a lot of dynamics I like - Lucy loves loudly and openly while Whistler is brittle and contained, they have tension with a history, the height difference is cute, and man, maybe for a different ship all the drama in 1B would've been too much, but for these two I loved it, and not just because Whistler made the best kicked puppy faces while pining hopelessly

my random headcanons on when they each realize they're gay is that Lucy realizes in middle school and Whistler realizes in college, not too long before Noah's death. Don't think anything in canon contradicts that

What makes me happy about them: they're so ridiculously fond of each other. The consistent hearteyes they aim at each other while engaging in tropey shenanigans and still being individually competent agents makes me very happy. When it comes to the relationship angst, I like that for them it's never closeted/sexuality angst but their very different personalities, the usual fwb-to-lovers difficulties, Whistler's big mistake, and working together. They've been no less delightful as an established relationship in S2 and S3 - I love how much the show loves them, they literally got a ficcy-as-hell undercover-as-couple subplot last episode with all the usual gimmicks

Oh, I also did not anticipate how much physical fighting this procedural would have, and as someone who always wants my faves to get wrecked, I have been very well-served. Lucy almost dying while undercover right after Kate crushes her heart! Whistler getting injured while they're broken up and Lucy yelling at her for it! Such good food. (Show, you can keep beating up Whistler every season, I will never complain.)

What makes me sad about them: Their families, and the resulting loneliness. Lucy talks about her sister and brothers like a youngest kid who used to be close to them but isn't any more, last ep she commented that she knew from a very young age that her parents would never throw her a big wedding like her brothers', the way she gets set off by "financially responsible" as a rationale + her family's money has implications there. Kate's confession of how she shut herself off from the world after Noah's death.

But I like that they know about these things for each other (the way Whistler goes "Right. Right." at Lucy's comment tells us they've talked about this before), and the way they're navigating around and disarming each other's landmines here

things done in fanfic that annoys me: I understand that this is the danger of stepping back into another blonde/brunette live-action f/f ship but I cannot deal with those epithets. Or "taller woman"/"shorter woman" either, all of it always makes the PoV character sound like she has a complex about hair or height. It is okay to use the characters' names, I promise.

things I look for in fanfic: .....I've become such a hipster about characterizations for these two. Lucy is the one who broods and contemplates her feelings, Kate is the one who acts without thinking and gets surprised by her own reactions. Whistler is the one with better work-life balance and hobbies, who moved from DC to Hawai'i and stayed there despite the former being way better for a fed career, who goes surfing every Saturday morning without bothering to be contactable by work, and Lucy is the one who describes her life as consisting solely of "work, gym, and [Whistler]" and sometimes does paperwork on the weekends.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: Gosh, I really have no other Lucy ships. For Whistler, I could 100% ship Whistler/Tennant if it was like, after the kids are grown. Why do they stand so close to each other in that 1x14 coffee conversation and say each other's full titles, or have Whistler demonstrate career-threatening levels of loyalty to Tennant, if not to make me contemplate this ship? I hope Sam Hanna's presence doesn't mean we don't get any Tennant-Whistler stuff this season.

My happily ever after for them: Just keep on being badass agents together and stay in Hawaii long-term. Don't really see them having kids, but I can totally see Lucy convincing Whistler of having a cat. ...Maybe get a shorter bed, does Lucy really have to climb that high every night XD.

who is the big spoon/little spoon: lmao I was going to make a comment about Lucy jetpacking because of course she does, but the bed comment reminded me that that they have 10 billion pillows on their bed. One weekend morning Lucy is going to sleepily think she's spooning Kate and find out she's actually hugging those pillows, having been abandoned for the Dreaded Ocean.

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: does sparring really count as non-sexual for them it might really be meals at home? They both cook, they enjoy a quiet night in after their truly hectic cases, and they can put on GBBO or one of Whistler's preferred history documentaries afterwards.

[ezekielbhandarivalleros]

Scaredy Cat and the not-so Haunted House

Characters: Ajay Bhandri, Dylan Hayes (MC), Layla “Leah” Hayes (Sister), Skye Crandall and Rory Silva 

Summary: The Gang go to a haunted house at a local fair 

Taglist:  @secretaryunpaid @aussieez @daddytyrilstarfury @cts-tj1 @choicesficwriterscreations @hss-fanfics

Rating - General (Everyone can Read)

"If you think that you can scare me, you've got another thing coming," Ajay muttered under his breath as he began wonder yet again why he had agreed to go to a haunted house with Dylan.

Ajay knew that he would live to regret his choice, but after the scare with the Cyber Killer this week he could not seem to able to refuse his own boyfriend. He knew he wasn't the only one roped into going as Leah had both agreed to go. Rory had wiggled his way out of it probably with a promise of unlimited hugs  for the rest of Dylan’s future career.

"Leah, Dylan  just remember as long as you don't touch the people in the haunted house they can't touch you. Last year, I went this haunted house where if you made it through the haunted house they gave like a hundred dollar prize. They could touch you in that one and you had to sign a waiver saying you were not going to sue the haunted house if got hurt. Goblin's Revenge is pretty tame, but if you touch the actors they can touch you." Ajay said all of this quickly in a very giddy way.

"Oh great," Dylan thought, "I better make sure lee-lah doesn't have any weapons on her because I have a feeling when Leah gets scared people are gonna get hurt. Hopefully if she doesn't have any weapons on her the results will be less fatal. OR NOT! I can't believe I let Ajay talk me into doing this even though it was my idea at first!"

"Uh, Leah, do you have any weapons with you?" Ajay asked with the knowledge that if Leah was without weapons than he was winning the award for Least Annoying with Movie References.

"Of course I do, Ajay. What kind of Mossad officer and NCIS agent would I be without them," Leah smiled as she said this with a hint of laughter in her voice.

"Um… How can I put this delicately, Leah? YOU CANNOT BE ARMED IN THE HAUNTED HOUSE! We wouldn't want you to shoot or stab anyone if you get spooked. No paperclips either." Ajay said and winced as if expecting some sort of retaliation from Leah for even suggesting she be unarmed.

"Ok," Leah replied stunning the entire group into silence not even a breath was heard for a full minute.

"Why don't you put all your weapons in the trunk of my Blazer, Ajay?" Ajay was the first to recover from Leah's astonishing reply.

All of them had come over in Dylan's parents Blazer as Ajay's car was in the shop and the Blazer was roomy enough to accommodate the Three of them easily. Leah began pulling out knives from everyplace imaginable and she had two guns hidden on her person as well. Ajay placed the weapons in a compartment under the carpet of the trunk and locked the Blazer.

He felt an urge to suggest patting Leah down to make sure that all of her weapons were accounted for, but for once his survival instinct took over before he could voice that opinion. Deciding that he should just stay between Leah and the haunted house actors to insure of all of their safety seemed to quiet all of his worries.

The entire time Ajay had been thinking, the group had made their way through to the admissions windows and paid for their bracelets so they could enter and leave the house as many times as they wanted until midnight. The bracelets were bright orange and took on a neon glow when entering the haunted house allowing the workers guarding the doors to be able to easily tell who was supposed to be there and whose was not without disturbing the patrons.

"Sweet, they're playing the Sixth Sense on the TVs while you go through the house," Dylan exclaimed then added in scared almost girly whisper, "I see dead people."

The rest of the group rolled their eyes as they started walking through the maze. Dylan was on the lookout for hidden compartment and decided that it seemed that it would most likely for the actors to pop out from the inner wall of the maze. He took up his position at Leah's right unfortunately the maze was not made for two people to stand side by side.

He tried to walk sideways, but only succeeded in making himself look like an idiot as he tripped over one of the prop skeletons legs that were placed at random intervals throughout the maze's walkways. He then decided to walk in front of Leah hoping to warn the actors of their impending doom if they made Leah mad or scared.

A bloodcurdling scream filled the maze as Ajay was frightened by Skye popping out of the floor in front of him followed by a squeak of pain as Ajay had stepped on Dylan's foot and then stumbled back causing him to lose his balance and follow on his butt with Ajay landing on top of him.

Skye began laughing her head off at the sight as she began to tease Ajay  mercilessly, "McKlutz maybe Dylan should walk in front of you so we can be sure that he doesn't get squashed to death by YOU!"

Skye already slipped back through the trapdoor to prepare to scare the next group that came through the corridor while Leah helped her brother up whom seemed to find the entire situation hilarious, "Dylan, I think that you are probably one of the only people who made Skye laugh!"

"Leah, Dylan are you okay since everyone seems to be only occupied with my lack of coordination?" Ajay questioned  as he helped her to her black booted feet.

"I'm okay. Really, Ajay," Dylan and Leah Both said reassuringly.

Ajay seemed to notice that Rory had not made a single comment on the entire situation when he turned around to comment on this to utter surprise he found that Rory was nowhere to be found.

"Guys, Rory's gone, he was here with us at the start but since then I haven’t seen him!" Dylan said as he looking back and forth down the hallway hoping he would suddenly appear like a crazy ninja.

"He probably leaned against the wall and went through one of the revolving walls. There is one right behind you." Leah stated calmly as Dylan started to look even more nervous.

"Dylan, I think he can handle a haunted house on her own. "Ajay said tickled by the frightened and very worried face of his boyfriend.

"Dylan, I'm not worried about Rory. I'm worried about what he might do after the people who scare he. Even without the knife your sister gave him at the start he's deadly and he reacts often with instinct which makes it more likely for himself faint or pass-out to only get hurt!" Dylan replied as he pushed against the wall to make it turn noticing Dylan and Leah sudden realization that Ajay might actually have a valid point.

As the wall revolved Dylan came face to face with a grinning Rory who was leaning on the wall a little left of the revolving wall so he would not get squashed by it.

"Dy, I have more self control then you think you realize. I haven't fainted yet and you drive me up the hall all the time." Rory said with a laugh, "I dropped the weapon your sis gave me so I would not be tempted to use them when scared."

Rory looked a little abashed by being found out.

The Twins were greeted with the sight of Ajay saying, "Rory, the saying is up the wall not the hall," and Ajay with look of annoyance at Rory's need to constantly correct his English when it was obvious what he was saying if it was exactly perfect English.

Not wanting to stay in the Haunted House, Rory and Dylan run out grabbing the photo of the gang from the booth racing of to a much safer and less scarier park ride

[ejzah]

Can you do a fanfic where everyone holds a surprise party for Deeks to congratulate him for going to FLECTC and becoming a soon-to-Be NCIS Special Agent. Please and thank you.

A/N: I know this is coming to you far after the fact, but hopefully it will still be enjoyable.

***

Recognition

“Are you sure you can’t get whatever it is you need tomorrow?” Deeks begged, groaning a little as Kensi continued to hold his hand and walk towards the mission. “I’m really exhausted, baby, and I feel like I’m being choked in this suit.”

“You look beautiful,” Kensi said, ignoring his complaints. “And yes, it’s absolutely necessary that we stop here tonight.” She opened the door and gestured for him to go first.

“What did you leave here anyway?” His head was aching, his shoulders stiff from holding himself ridiculously straight all day. He started loosening his tie as he wandered down the hall towards the bullpen.

“Um, some paperwork I need to finish...” Kensi trailed off vaguely. He didn’t notice her falling behind, busy running through his conversation with Martinez, picking apart her every word.

“Hey, why don’t we-wait, why do I hear music?” He stopped short, turning back around. Kensi?” he said, eyeing her suspiciously

She rocked back on her heels, hands clasped tightly in front of her, a smile playing at her lips.

“Come with me.” She grabbed his hand as she walked past him, leading him down to the gym. The music increased the closer they got until Kensi paused in front of the doors, said, “Surprise!” and flung them open.

Deeks took a step back, his mouth dropping open slightly. Someone had decorated the gym with black and silver balloons, streamers and a large banner that read “Congrats”. The rest of the team were grouped around a long table covered with trays of food and drinks.

Kensi nudged him into the room, carefully watching his expression as he lingered in the doorway.

“So, what do you think?”

“I’m just a little confused. Why are you throwing me a surprise party?”

“You’re going to FLETC, Deeks. That’s pretty big and worth celebrating,” Sam answered as he and Callen wandered over. They both had drinks and tiny plates of food, which looked especially ridiculous in Sam’s hand.

“Plus, Nell already bought about a 1000 balloons so it seemed a shame to waste them,” Callen added, smirking at him.

“Agent Martinez didn’t confirm anything yet.”

“Yeah, but that’s just a formality. There’s no way you’re not getting in with your credentials. Not to mention my fabulous interview.” Deeks snorted, cracking his first real smile in a couple hours.

“You told her that you punched Deeks the first day you met him.” Kensi’s eyebrows rose in vague shock at Callen’s revelation, but Sam waved it off.

“I only said that to contrast what people tend to think of Deeks on first sight and how he really is. I made sure she knew how much we all respect and what a essential part of this team he is,” Sam explained with a roll of his eyes. “Troublemaker.”

“Wow, thanks, man. He felt completely overwhelmed. “That’s, uh, I really appreciate that. Although, I’m super glad I didn’t know about the punching part during my interview.”

“Like I said, you deserve it,” Sam reiterated, pulling him into a one-armed hug. “Go get something to drink. You look like you could use some loosening up.”

“Yeah, I could definitely use some loosening up,” he muttered just as Nell appeared on his other side and wrapped her arms tightly around him.

“I am so, so happy for you,” she murmured. When she pulled away, swiped at her eyes and gestured vaguely around the room. “I’m sorry we couldn’t do more, but I promise we’ll have a real celebration when you graduate.”

“Nell, this is way more than enough. More than I ever expected. Thank you,” he said sincerely.

“Anytime, friend.” She squeezed his arms, seeming as relieved as he did and then said. “Eric, is going to be by later. He had to go meet someone, something to do with work, but he will be back.”

“We won’t leave before he comes,” Kensi promised.

They finally got around to getting something to drink and spent a couple minutes chatting with Fatima and Rountree. Rountree warned him about a Fitness Instructor named Jones. Fatima gave him a gift card for a restaurant near the academy for when the cafeteria got old.

After thanking them, they wandered back, chatting among themselves and Deeks tilted his head, consideringly.

“You don’t think they’re...” He trailed off suggestively and Kensi frowned then made snorted as she realized what he was saying.

“No, absolutely not.”

“They seem to spend a lot of time together,” Deeks pointed out. Kensi glanced back at them again and then said more firmly,

“It’s just because they get paired together a lot and they’re the junior agents.”

“That’s how we got together.” Kensi narrowed her eyes at him then looped her arms around his neck, giving him a smacking kiss on the cheek.

“That’s because we’re special, soon-to-be Agent Deeks.” She grinned up at him and he once again felt ridiculously grateful for every person in the room.

“That has a nice ring to it,” he said quietly.

“Yes it does,” she agreed. “And if I didn’t say it already, I am so proud of you. You’re going to do great.”

***

A/N: I always struggle a little with what to do with Fatima and Rountree since they’re still fairly new and don’t have such a strong connection to Deeks. Hopefully how I present them is ok.

Thanks for the prompt!

[justkindaoverhereobsessing]

.an update.

Hiya, friendly friends! Just want to drop in here and announce that I am not dead. If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter or we’re Facebook friends, you know this already, but if you don’t, here’s an update on how things are going for me! 

(Spoiler alert: they’re not going particularly wonderfully, lol.)

To begin with, I’m recovering from brain surgery! This is my monster of an incision:

It’s from a procedure called a microvascular decompression, used to treat my trigeminal neuralgia. I’ll be making a megapost in a few minutes to explain in great detail what those terms mean, in case anyone is interested.

I’m also recovering from COVID-19 right now! My mom has it, too, and luckily, we both have pretty mild cases. I’ve got body aches and a very low-grade fever, and worst of all, I have a cough... I don’t recommend coughing at length when you already have a post-craniotomy headache, just sayin! (The important thing, though, is that it could be so, so much worse, and Mom and I are absolutely surviving and hangin’ in there.)

Religiously, I celebrate Hanukkah, and culturally, I celebrate Christmas... both of which were very strange holidays for me this year! My surgery was about 12 hours into Hanukkah (which lasts 8 days, in case you’re not familiar with the specifics!) and then Mom and I both had our COVID cases well underway by Christmas... so both holidays were spent mostly alone, laying on the couch/in bed and watching Criminal Minds and NCIS: New Orleans. (At least for Christmas, Mom was there, too, but for the first four days of Hanukkah, I was in the ICU and wasn’t allowed to have visitors.) It was all very nontraditional, but there are worse ways to celebrate! If I had nothing else, I at least had Spencer Reid. :-) Here’s a phone wallpaper that I made for myself the other day... feel free to use it if you, too, love Dr. Reid:

People have been overwhelmingly kind while I recover... countless people have texted or called or Facebook messaged or WhatsApped to check on me. Dozens of people have given unconditional offers to help with whatever I might need. At least ten people have run errands for me and/or dropped little presents off on my front porch, making sure I’m both well-stocked with things I need AND feeling very loved! It takes a village, and my village is the best one. I’ve never understood people that think humans are inherently bad... because in my experience, any time someone is given an opportunity to be kind, they’ll take it without hesitation. People are wonderful! 

Otherwise, I’m sort of on hiatus from the NCIS world. Inspiration to write/create graphics/make GIFs has dropped off significantly, so I’ve decided not to force anything. Creativity and the urge to breathe life back into the dusty characters I’ve temporarily shelved will return, and until then, I’m quietly enjoying other parts of my life that sometimes get pushed to the side when I’m hyperfixated on one fandom or another. :-) Right now, though, I’ve sort of moved on to a new fandom—but I’ll be back sooner or later, I promise! My WIP stories are not abandoned, they’re just on the back burner at the moment. 

My current hyperfixation is (as I’m sure you can guess, based on what I wrote above) Criminal Minds! The misery brought on by brain surgery and COVID is no match for Dr. Spencer Reid. I’m writing a fanfic in the CM fandom for the first time, and I have absolutely no intention of ever posting it anywhere. It’s my pet project, my private joy, the reason for my first nanowrimo win, and since it’s written for an audience of me... well, I’m shamelessly self-indulging! At the moment, it’s about 90k words long, and every single one of those words is cheesy and derivative—and it’s everything that I love in a story. :-) 

As always, my love for all of you here runs deep and strong, and hiatus doesn’t change that! If you don’t have my phone number and you want to stay in touch, please, shoot me a message... I’ll give my number out to anyone and everyone. Let’s be closer friends than we are now! Let’s send each other memes and ugly selfies! :-)

Until hiatus ends, I probably won’t be around much, but I promise, I’m alive and well. 

All my love, Cynthia

PS — I’ll leave you with a baby picture of me, in case anyone has forgotten what I look like, lmao. 

[tonysziva]

Second hardest 180 of my life

Thanks @talisbirthdaychallenge​ for prompting me to write again, it was a long time since I wrote a bit of fanfic and I had a great time. Besides, this is such a cute way to celebrate Tali and to bring together creative and talented people in this fandom.❤️I incorporated the birthday cake, the zoom call, the head-slap™, an old inside joke, a blood relative on Ziva’s side, a pie to the face (actually cake if it counts), a song that makes me think of Tiva, an airport, a new dress and someone laughing until they cry. 

English is not my native language so maybe I may have left some accidental mistakes or wrong idioms lol.

“Imaa, where is my brush? I told you I would pack my own toiletries and..” How agitated Tali was. Being and 18 year old headed to college was not and easy task. She sat down on the bed, Tony watching from the doorframe.

“Slow down Tee, we have still plenty of time to figure out what you will put in your college boxes, besides, today we celebrate your birthday with grandpa Gibbs isn’t that exciting?”

He received death stare from his daughter. He did not expect parenting a teenager would have been this hard. Yes, Tali sure has always been a very sweet and kind child but since she wasn’t a child anymore, her character changed, her true colors started to show. Sometimes she reminded him of himself when he was her age but she most definitely inherited her mum’s sassiness along with the bravery and kindness.

Tony watched her as she slowly began to soften her expression. Although she was soon off to college, she would forever be his little girl, the same one that he watched sleeping every night in their tiny Parisian loft. Things changed since they moved back to DC when Ziva joined them again many years ago but he couldn’t help but keep on seeing that little girl in her.

“Yeah, I guess” she smiled. “dad?”

“mhh?” 

“will you and Ima miss me when I go away?”

In that exact same moment Ziva reached her husband. She took his hand.

“Of course Tali, nothing will change and you know you will always be welcome back home”

“Besides” Tony interrupted “I’ll miss having someone around who actually gets my jokes and has the same taste for movies” he said teasingly. They all hugged as Tony begun tickling his girls. He knew they both had that week spot and he loved hearing their giggles. He always knew his wife had a soft side to her and seeing her grow through the years as a mother made it clear to him that he wouldn’t have wanted anyone else by his side.

It was tradition like every year that the whole family reunited to celebrate Tali’s birthday. Of course it would have been at Gibbses place. Oh how much he spoiled that little girl of his. He cherished every moment with his grandchildren, Victoria, Tali and the twins but somehow Tali was the special one, also given the  delicate situation she had been through.

Also like every year it was a tradition that Senior would gift Tali a dress for her birthday and that year would be no different. He had a good taste and always sent the best fabrics for his favorite granddaughter. Her light blue knee length long sleeved dress matched perfectly with her light olive skin, and the dark blue dots were absolutely delightful, matching her bubbly personality. 

Tony and Ziva decided back then that it would have been better for Tali and for them settle down definitely in DC, since a little help from their friends would always be nice. But through the years it was clear they made the perfect choice seeing how much Tali and Gibbs had bonded. She spent many afternoons after school with him since he retired from NCIS, and came to swear to know the secret to how Grandpa Gibbs got the boats out from his basement, to which Tony tried to get it out from her in every way.

“Happy birthday Kid” Gibbs hugged her as they arrived at his home. He hugged his two former agents, who he considered his kids all the way. Not always had there to be blood to connect people as family, especially at NCIS. Unfortunately a difficult case at work kept the rest of the fam from coming but there was another surprise for Tali. On a pc Mcgee managed to instruct Gibbs on how it functions there was an Incoming Zoom video call.

Tali could not believe her eyes : “happy 18th birthday dear Tali” Uncle Tim, Uncle Jimmy, Jack, Ellie and her husband Nick the wuss, as Ima still jokingly called him, were all there. She was soooo happy gosh that was a nice surprise. They excused themselves for not being there and Tali understood because she knew what being a very special agent meant.

They opened presents, ate and laughed, even more so as Gibbs presented his homemade cake. And since it revealed itself to taste horribly, Tali and Ziva could not resist but smash some cake into Tony’s face. It was such an hilarious scene for everybody except for Tony who desperately tried to remove it from his hair. It was a long time since Gibbs had seen such an hilarious episode and what was even more rare was seeing tears forming in Gibbses and Tali’s eyes, they could not stop laughing at Tony. It was one of those moments which Tali would have cherished for the years to come.  

Late night arrived. The evening at Gibbses place had been great but back at home Tali started to become more and more agitated. Her parents immediately noticed.

“What’s wrong mon coeur? Is everything alright?” Ziva’s mom senses jumped in.

“yeah it’s just… I was wondering- her light brown curls now shaking with her head- i was just wondering what if I wanted to become and agent like you and Dad and Gibbs and everyone else?” Tali knew it was a very hard topic to touch since she heard her parents argue several times over which path would have been best for her. She was now old enough and really wished her parents knew what she longed for after college, the fact that that world has always called for her.

Tony and Ziva looked at each other knowing that maybe that moment would have come.

“well Tali you must know that when I was introduced to the team I was still very young and it all happened when”

 “yeah i know when uncle Ari was sent here to kill Gibbs I know the story Ima”

“yes. When we talked about you taking this path we were afraid, you know it’s a work full of threats and”

“and full of pretty coworkers” Tony added smirking.

Ziva smiled to his husband annoyed. “that’s not the point, but you get it Tali. We don’t want you to get hurt but…if that would make you happy then we’ll support you and of course, you would learn from the very best.”

“like your mother said I was once Very special agent Anthony DiNozzo and…” he was shushed by his wife throwing a big pillow at him and everyone bursted into a laugh.

“my Tali remember, you will be everything you are meant to be” Ziva caressed her daughter’s cheek.

 “thanks Abba, Thank you Ima” how grateful they were for their not anymore little girl.

The day arrived when they had to accompany Tali to the airport. It took Tony all of his power not to cry at the breakfast table as he hummed “slipping through my fingers” from Mamma Mia in his head. Ziva on the other hand was better at hiding it, even though she always hated goodbyes. Well it wasn’t technically a forever goodbye but knowing that the nest would be empty from that moment on left a bittersweet feeling In her.

“i can’t wait to meet my roommates” was all Tali could say as they were about to say goodbye, her eyes now watery but full of resolution.“i will miss you but I’ll promise I’ll call as soon as I land.”.

“And if any boy tries to break your heart you’re still going to tell your old dad aren’t you Tee?” Tali promptly head-slapped her dad just like Gibbs did for many years. it was actually the very first time she did it and it felt oddly satisfying. they could’t help but laugh.

The family hugged one more time before parting. As they were walking away Tony had to intervene:

“Funny how this is the second time I leave from an airport without Tali” a nod to that evening at the tarmac. And again “guess this is the second hardest 180 of my life”.

His wife stared lovingly at him. “she will be fine, let’s go home Tony”. She rubbed his back ant took his hand. Everything was okay.

[ao3feed-larry]

Hidden Under Our Petticoats

by arthurh_inc

'Harry, I know it has been ages since I last saw you, but given the good news I've only just learned about no thanks to you, (congrats on your engagement by the way), I wanted to get in touch with you again. Come to my dinner party at my manor, Dec. 18th at 9 o'clock! I have recently struck a successful deal for the bank so your presence there would mean everything to me. I realize its been years and after we lost touch... I realized it hasn't exactly been easy, has it? But I want you to be here, to celebrate both your happiness and mine. Please? I promise, there's going to be a few surprises in store here as well. So, wouldn't want to miss this one. Here's to old friends. Will see you soon. Yours, Julien.'

Harry knew it was a bad idea. He just didn't realize that a night of fun could turn into a night of blood, pointed fingers, and fearing for his life. It's the cherry on top that a stranger he just met and sincerely despises is now his most trusted ally. Or is he really? Julien always said that one can only trust themselves, and Harry is really starting to believe that statement. Along with the others, he'll try his best to survive the night, blood on his hands or not.

Words: 2429, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: One Direction (Band), Little Mix (Band)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death

Categories: M/M

Characters: Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Jade Thirlwall, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jesy Nelson, Perrie Edwards, Liam Payne, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Original Characters

Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Jade Thirlwall/Original Character(s)

Additional Tags: My First Fanfic, My First Work in This Fandom, My First AO3 Post, basically my first everything, Murder Mystery, like clue but with a little more pizazz, i made a couple oc's because there weren't enough people at the dinner party, dedicated to people who love NCIS, Or not, 1940s, Alternate Universe - 1940s, because this was based off a kill your darlings fancam, James Corden makes an appearance, everybody gets their own boring jobs, Harry is a Little Shit, Louis Tomlinson is a Little Shit, the whole cast is a little shit, what else can I put, Major Character Injury, Major Original Character(s), Period-Typical Homophobia, Period-Typical Sexism, Period Typical Attitudes, Period-Typical Racism, So brace yourself, Plot Twists, Arranged Marriage, for Harry, kind of, you'll see - Freeform, all the characters have BAGGAGE, Fluff and Angst, Bittersweet Ending, Character Death, will have proper trigger warnings for every chapter, Lawyer Harry Styles, Pianist Louis Tomlinson, symbolism is everything, Worth Re-Reading, lots of lyrics in there too, Enemies to Lovers, they h a t e each other at first, lol, undertones of - Freeform, Past Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, references to World War II, have fun kiddos, Research for this includes only binging 1940s thrillers and thats IT, okay we're done, Strangers to Lovers, No Smut

via AO3 works tagged 'Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson' https://ift.tt/35fFVOu

[earanemith]

Promises made

Chapter 6: Home

Read on Ao3

She hated it with a passion. Understanding they needed to turn her, put pillows in different places touch her, and liking it were two very different things. Looking forward to the day she was able and allowed to do it herself so they'd stop touching her. The only positive thing about it was Miriam. She was very glad that Miriam seemed to be her main nurse. Where the others just came in and did what needed to be done. Miriam talked to her while doing it. Warning her every time when she was going to touch her. It made her less anxious to be told beforehand what would happen with her body. Already she felt unstable enough without the uncertainty of what would happen.

This time Miriam did not come in with the goal to move her body.

"Hello Ziva. I am going to take you to get some more scans. If they look good you will start with physical therapy."

No better news could have come at that time. This laying around was not what she and thus by extend her body was used to. Every time Liat held up the cup to let her drink she could feel the weakness in her arms, from disuse. If everything in her life was changing she at least could get back on of the things she'd loved before. Exercising, keeping her body moving. In the past it had also helped her get her mind of other things.

Rolling Ziva's bed out of the room was the last Liat saw from both of them for the next hour. Not noticing that as soon as Ziva's bed was moved the woman in question closed her eyes. The scans were taken and after Ziva was being rolled in again. Liat could see the exhaustion on her face. Not surprising. The moving that came with preventing bedsores already made her tired. Moving her to the scanning machines would take even more energy from Ziva.

Back barely half an hour and doctor Raviv already entered the room.

"I have very good news for you Ziva" she said as a way of greeting "the scans look good. The events from a couple of days ago did no further damage. For both your spine and pelvic region there are good signs that it's starting to heal."

Finally some good news. While Ziva tried her hardest to pretend her emotional outburst at Eli's abandonment hadn't happened she had feared she made things worse for herself.

"Later today your physical therapist will visit you to discuss everything. I will also send in a dietitian. Before we can truly get you out of this bed and moved to occupational therapy we need to be sure to get you eating again. Any questions?"

"No, thank you doctor Raviv" pleased with the good news she had gotten.

- -

Habits. Hard to break if it was a wrong one, hard to get right if it was something not completely natural to the person. After his weeks at sea only one habit had stuck. Not the getting up early, he still had as much trouble with that as before. Writing his letters to Ziva however did stick.

Even with being back at his desk, the place he longed to be back at the moment he left. Even with being able to actually talk to Abby, tease McGee, get his head set straight by a slap to it by Gibbs. He still needed her. Not that he'd ever thought he would not. Getting to walk back into the bullpen every morning was great. Finally hearing from Ziva would be better. It became clear to him that no one from NCIS had heard from her since she left. The only one he had not approached about it was director Vance. He'd rather not do that.

Not after his attempt to question Gibbs about her. They had been going to a witnesses house to question them when on the drive there Tony had finally dared to ask.

"Have you heard from Ziva?"

Silence as it was so often with Gibbs was also his answer now.

"I never thought I'd say this but I miss our Israeli officer.  Did you know that neither McGee or Abby have heard from her? I had hoped you had any contact with her, is she on another mission for Mossad? She told me once it wasn't all hot women and car chases but I had always wondered if she was just.."

"DiNozzo. Your rambling" His boss said in a gruff voice, Tony knew that if Gibbs had not been driving instead of speaking he'd have head slapped him.

"Shutting up boss"

 So, even though he had gotten almost everything he had wished for he still picked up his pen and paper and wrote to her. Late in the night when no one would glance twice at the senior field agent still at his desk.

The hope that she was send out on a mission and unable to contact him at all grew smaller and smaller. Or maybe it just got harder to cling to that hope.

As always he started his letter with her name. Just her name.

'Ziva, McGee and I have been back at NCIS for some time now and it is not the same without you here. I need my partner. You still haven't contacted me. I know what we said right before we left but.... I am starting to get worried. Where are you? Do you know how many times I picked up my phone to call you? The only thing that prevented me to press call was you yelling at me for compromising the mission you're on. That is the only explanation I can think of for you not contacting me.'

- -

Just as promised later that day a new face entered the hospital room. Shaking Ziva's hand and introducing herself as "Rasha" explaining since she and Ziva would be working close together she did not see the need for fancy titles or last names.

"Now I read through your medical file but I would like to hear from you what your life looked liked before you came here. How much exercise did you get? That way I can best make a plan for our sessions to get your body in the best condition for when you start occupational therapy"

"The normal amount. I always run...ran about eight kilometers every morning. Three times a week I would go to the gym for martial arts training. Sometimes more if work allow it. "

Inside Rasha had to chuckle, with Ziva saying the normal amount. Rasha read in the files that Ziva was a Mossad officer. Now she did not know about their training regime but she had patients that were in the IDF before, knowing how much they trained Rasha could only believe Mossad was at least that focused on physical strength and health.

"That is a good baseline to start from. That means you are in excellent form" her level of health greatly improved the odds of her recovery.

"I am not so sure about that" Ziva answered her even though no question was asked. "Since I have woken up my friend has had to help me hold a cup, they have to move me because I cannot do it myself. My arms feel weak"

"That is all perfectly normal. Your body has had to go through a lot these past weeks. The weakness you experience is normal after the coma you've been in. Loss of strength is already expected after a week. Let alone the time it was for you." A soft smile appeared on Rasha's face. If all of her patients were in the shape Ziva had been in before she would for sure see quicker recoveries. "The fact that you were in good shape before your accident means that your body is used to working. We will get you back in shape, get your strength back up. I cannot promise you you'll get back one hundred percent. But if you are willing to work so am I. Don't forget your body is also not getting the nutrients the way it is used to. Once you get back to eating you will find your strength will return fast. I'll take my notes and start working on a program. I will be back tomorrow. Prepare to start working then."

- -

The dietician Michael was a nice enough man, though that was maybe also due to Ziva's excitement at him being there. Longing for a bite of real food, not ice chips. After checking her mouth and swallow reflex quickly jolting things down in his file he gave her the good news. "You are good to go with oral ingestion again. Any swelling from the ventilator is gone. This does not mean you can immediately get back to eating full meals. You're digestive track has not been working on solid foods for too long for that. We will start you off slowly with broths onto mashes and introduce more fiber into your diet again. It is all written out so the nurses can handle that. I will check in periodically with you to see if the plan needs to be tweaked." Looking up when Miriam came into the room holding a tray with a bowl on it. "Now are you ready for real food? We will go slowly since you have been flat for a while. Give us a sign if you feel uncomfortable"

He pushed the button to raise her bed. Then everything went wrong, the bed had barely moved up a couple of inches. Nausea swept over her. More intense than at all the times they had moved her or had rolled her bed down to the scans.

"Stop" was all she was able to say before her stomach protested. At once she started dry heaving. For nothing was there to come up. Quickly she was lowered down again.

"Deep breaths Ziva. This is just a reaction from your body from laying down for so long. We will wait a couple of minutes before we try again. Let it sink down"

And like that, a couple of minutes later they tried again. Ziva closing her eyes before he could start the bed to lift her up a bit. Again with just a bit of movement the nausea came back. This time instead of lowering her down Michael just stopped the bed.

"Remember Ziva deep breaths. We'll try to stay like this to see if the nausea goes away. Your balancing organ just needs to get the message that everything is okay"

With the minutes passing the nausea did not go away. It just seemed to get worse. Ziva felt herself grow warm and start to sweat. When Michael saw this then he lowered her down again.

That whole process was repeated a handful of times more in the next half an hour. Sadly without any change.

"Please no more" Ziva finally said. Since the second time they'd tried to lift her she had not opened her eyes anymore.

Then finally it clicked with Miriam. Who remembered she had Ziva close her eyes on purpose quite a bit in the last couple of days.

"Ziva, did you feel dizzy or nauseated before going up?"

Nodding her head not daring to speak in fear of dry heaving again.

"All the time?" the answer now being a shake of her head.

"Ziva I know it is hard but I need you to answer me. When do you start to get dizzy?"

"When moved" were the only two words Ziva dared to speak.

"When we move you around, also when we move your bed right?" A nod confirmed it.

"I think we need to get you on some different pain medication before we try to get you up again. I think you are experiencing a side effect. I will talk with doctor Raviv to see about the change" leaving her alone with Michael.

"I believe Miriam might be right. For now we will wait until the medicine is changed. Depending on how you are feeling I will be back late in the afternoon."

After Miriam's talk with doctor Raviv it was decided to indeed change Ziva's pain medication. One that was ever so slightly less strong but with a lot less side effects. The change of the medication  was not easy. The pain medicine that had made her so sick going out of her system being sure it was noticed one last time. Which caused another bout of dry heaving even though Ziva was laying flat on her back. The morning she woke up after was better, the change in medicine very noticeable.

When Michael came back that day and they repeated the whole process there was a big change. She still got dizzy and nauseas when they lifted her but not as much. The need to throw up was gone. In slow fazes she was lifted. Somewhere between laying down and upright was where they left it for today. Not wanting to overwhelm Ziva's system. Because the day had taken a lot of energy out of Ziva it was Miriam who spoon fed her the soup. Trying to get over that embarrassment was hard but was made somewhat okay at the feeling of the broth going down. The taste of the salty broth did her good, finally something ells than the ice chips she had been allowed before.

 When everyone concluded she would keep it down Michael told her again how they would build up her tolerance to solid foods. If at any point she felt her body fight against the food or feel nauseas by it she needed to let them know. Before he left he wanted to lower Ziva, who stopped him, down again.

"Can you leave me up please?"

He continued with lowering her "Your body has enough to adjust to. The half hour you have been up is the max I can allow right now. Mostly because of your spine. I will message your physical therapist, noting you responded well with being as upright as you are right now. You will work on being up for longer periods of time."

"You did well today Ziva." Miriam, always being kind to her, said before both she and Michael left. Leaving Ziva alone in the room with Liat. Who had come back from the gym right when Ziva had finished her broth. They talked some. Ziva informing her of what happened when she was gone. Satisfied with a day where she finally did something it was not much later that Ziva closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

- -

A new day had started and for the first time since Ziva landed in the hospital Liat finally thought things were taking a turn, for the better and staying that way.  Where she had thought that before this was different. This was the first day that Ziva had woken up with a smile. Looking forward to eating, to starting to work with Rasha.

"Hey Ziva, Liat" Rasha greeted her happiness being infectious. "Ready to work?"

Having to only look at Ziva to see her smile in reply. "Let's first get you up a bit more. I got the note from Michael and I agree with everything getting you stable upright is important right now"

Slowly she raised the bed. Ziva was happy to note that she did not get as dizzy today and not at all nauseated. After checking if Ziva felt okay Rasha took a seat on the other side of the bed that Liat sat. "Before we start I wanted us to talk about something. I know a lot has happened in the last couple of days and that everything can be very overwhelming. That is why I want you to know that this whole process that we start today is in your hands. Everything we do here is to give you as much choice and control for when you are okayed to leave. There will be times when progress seems none existent and things will get hard. But I am here to work through that with you."

Ziva understood. She did not fully trust Rasha for that was not in her nature. As long as what Rasha said was true, that she would do anything in her power to help Ziva they would be okay.

"What helps is to set a goal for yourself. Something to work towards. Tell me, what do you want? How does life look like when you get out of here?"

For a moment Ziva did not know what her answer should be. The past days had started and ended with her mostly focusing on the here and now. More overwhelmed by the drastic change her life had taken. In the past whenever an injury had brought her to the hospital she had fought tooth and nail to get out as soon as humanly possible to be able to return to work.

She turned the question Rasha had asked her over in her head. Again and again. What did she want? Most of the things she had wanted for her life were not a possibility anymore. Or at least the things that Eli had wanted for her. Without deciding to a memory popped in her head. Tony's voice "Promise me you'll come back. Promise me we'll get a chance?". That made her think of him. For the first time since she'd woken up. The thought of him brought a lot of new questions with it. Would he still want her like this? Unable to be his partner again? Would any of them? Right now she was a world away, she could not return in the same state she had left in. Would that change anything for them? Would Gibbs still trust her as he once had? Would Abby, McGee and Ducky receive her back with open arms? Even like this?

When she asked herself that question her mind answered with memories. Memories of them all hanging out after a case had been closed, thanksgiving at Ducky's, her girls nights with Abby, all the moments shared in the last years. They had taught her what it had meant to be part of a team. A team more often than not working as family. They taught her that is was okay to show what she had kept inside when working for Mossad. It was okay to be human, to make mistakes, to cry to laugh with the people around you. It was okay to love.

The answer to all of her questions would be yes. Even this far away from them she was still a part of them, just as they were a part of her. Things would not be as they were before but they could work at a new normal. She did not need her legs to sit down for tea with Ducky and listen to his stories. She did not need to be physically strong to have fun with McGee or a girls outing with Abby. Her and Gibbs shared a bond to deep to just break because of this. And Tony. She had seen him change in the years since she met him, especially in the last year when they had really gotten close. He slowly got into her heart as more than a friend even if that was hard to admit somehow. She knew it was the same for him. The connection they shared would hold, this would not change that. Ziva would make sure to keep her promises to him.

Rasha waited patiently as Ziva seemed to be deep in thoughts. She noticed Liat start to fidget next to Ziva, probably wondering if she should step in. Years of experience had taught Rasha that often times patients had not thought about that question before she asked it to them. Would not think much further than all the medical stuff happening around them. That was why this question was important. Once they realized what they wanted they became motivated they could push through the hard parts. It was visible the moment Ziva had found her answer. A tiny smile broke out on her face and she looked straight into Rasha's eyes. With conviction she spoke, a single word but it encompassed all that Ziva wanted to accomplish.

"Home"11

Tagglist: @benedettabeby, @benditlikepress, @happygirl-0408, @tivafanfic, @loudlooks @hopeless-nostalgiac @mrsmungus @and-he-will @kmpotter4140 @litningmyway @koogamy @oceangirl24 @danceswithdarkspawn @irish-trish @residentdormouse @munstysmind @lovelyme12m @tonysziva @artemisscabin @television-overload @tiva2023vibes @tivancis @ncisfanatics@tonyandzivauk@tonylovesziva@tony-love-ziva@tonyandzivamakestiva-blog@missbuckynat@zivaninja@do-it-for-the-fandom@ztarlucy@take-it-on-the-run@stonetee@mackidockie@chenfordsrollisi@fairy-tales-of-yesterday@sweetsouldhavernas @delicatefalice

[wildflowerwattpad0217]

Long Time, No See: a Sherlock x OC Fanfic. My reaction after two years.

This story has spoilers for this fanfic, if you would like to read it before hand here is the link:

Long Time, No See

Masterlist

Each paragraph is a chapter.

Did I recycle names because I really did like the name Samara and didn't think it was getting enough love? Yes, I did. This is the prologue, explaining Sherlock and Samara's past together up until she leaves, moving in with her father and her 'half-brother' who just happens to be the evil James Moriarty. Then there is a cameo at the end by A.G.R.A.

This is creepy tbh. She was protecting him. So her father ended up being abusive, and to run away from it all she faked her death. Legally her last name is now Moriarty but she prefers Finley. It's always nice when you even surprise Mycroft. She's Queenie, best hacker in the world.

John trying to make small talk with Samara well she is making a firewall for the British government. John and Sherlock after finding out her sleep schedule is forcing her to go to bed. Sherlock admitted to John about being in love with her. I love Sherlock and Samara's dynamic.

A severed head in the fridge. When the blog Sherlock doesn't like is also the reason is his best friend is back with him after she read the last name, Moriarty. Sam coming to Sherlock's defense when coming to him deleting the solar system from his mind palace. She is so not bother by the fact there was a piece of glass in her face. Sherlock and Mycroft's sibling rilvarly tho. Scotland Yard is shaking at the idea of two Sherlocks.

A game of war. Moriarty. Carl Powers, their first case. Time to finish what they started. She got into the system. Botox. Her father run an insurance fraud ring.

It's time for war. He knows something she doesn't. She says she's more powerful than Mycroft and tbh she's not wrong. Moriarty isn't wrong tho. Hacking is her drug... Samara has a few ideas.

Yeah, Sherlock is going to ask about that later. That was a quick case. And a small bit of the truth comes out. Connie Prince.

Sherlock and Sam are freaking out Lestrade and it's perfect. Everyone who knows Sherlock always has the same questions for Sam. She defused that tension quickly. Sherlock has been almost killed a lot, if it hadn't been for Sam he and Mycoft would probably be dead.

This chapter just shows everyone how much pull she has any underground community. The way even the golem owes her favors and is on a nickname basis with him. The Van Buren supernova. She is going to kill her brother.

I do agree, it's time to fulfill that promise. King Midas just warned Sam about what her brother is planning. They are full siblings not just half siblings. This scene right here, proves even more to Sherlock how deep she is in the community how powerful she is that not even the assassins no matter how much they are being paid they will be loyal to Queenie.

Sherlock was wondering if her and King Midas ever dated and she was like sweetie he's gay. To which he let out a sigh of relief. She is going to the Buckingham palace in workout clothes at least it's not a sheet. All Hail John Watson, the king is sass. Samara, the bisexual icon. Irene Adler is her ex girlfriend.

Samara just saying she should have just broke it and it would have been less chit chat. She really does have a death wish, doesn't she? And Irene knows it too and annoyed with it. I forgot I made her an ex-sex addict.

She picked pocketed Sam's phone. When Sam uses Sherlock's actual first name, William. Then threatens to call his mother if he doesn't apologize. Irene Adler is dead.

Sherlock's worried about Sam. Sam fell in love with Irene, that was her mistake. She cut her brother's toe off with gardening shears. Sherlock doesn't know if he loves Sam. Never mind he does. Sam knows Irene is not dead. Sam had a rag of chloroform in her pocket, that's a little concerning tbh.

They started dating, Sam and Sherlock did. The tortured Soul reference though. If you don't know tortured soul is my Harry Potter fanfic and Athens is main character. When her brother calls her and says their parents wear assassinated. Irene Adler was sleeping in Sherlock's room. Irene pissed off Sam so she went to the gym and went Sherlock followed her he scared the shit out of her and she pinned him down.

Samara insulting Mycroft. Sam is pissed that Irene she's not even using her name she just saying Miss Adler. And Irene's just in shock everyone's in shock about how mad she is. Irene was under the command of James, her brother when she was with her. Irene admitted that she loved her but Samara said that she just realized that she never loved her and that she was a fill-in for Sherlock.

Irene Adler is dead. Her brother is calling her. She just has to go to the house to pick up some old photos of her and Sherlock that she hid underneath the floorboards. The moment she sees her brother she slaps him and don't blame her though. They're going to burn down the house that they were abused in because FUCK their father. And she is trying not to have a sibling bonding moment. And he just said shut up and listen. James was the one to put the hit out on them.

Sherlock planned romantic evening for him and Sam. So she gets a text from the American White House and then from her brother. She was a witness against her brother. Sherlock's in contempt for showing off.

James was found not guilty. Sam calling him out on his bullshit about the computer code. She is the queen of all hackers she would know if that code existed it doesn't. Assassins that Sam don't know are moving in around her and she doesn't like it. Penelope Garcia. So fun fact, there were two shows that I was debating for her to go to during the time Sherlock was in hiding taking down morarities web and one of them was NCIS LA and the one I actually went for was criminal minds cuz I thought about NCIS LA because of the fact I could explore her disguises and undercover identities but I decided with criminal minds and the FBI BAU because I just thought it would be better for her.

She just said his real first name again, he's in trouble. Breadcrumbs. The American President is offering her to work for the FBI for two year and then she'll be pardoned in America.

During the raid on Adlestone someone Chloroformed Samara and cut her wrists. She woke up in the hospital and she walked out of there. Just to see her brother's face in a cab. When Sherlock asked Sam if she 100 percent sure positive that she believes in him. I love that she just look at him and goes "Bloody hell, I am. You've been doing this longer than you have known me, Sherlock. Of course, I am sure." And I love that.

That's a good point. Does it count if they don't say his actual first name? She really just jumped out the window, didn't she? (Kitty Riley)-They won't hurt you infront of witnesses, Richard. (Samara)-Bet (Sherlock and John)- Sam no!| When she has her brother birth certificate to prove his existince. He just realized the fall wasn't a metaphor for anything. Sam just told Mycoft the key code isn't real and just realized how much he fucked up.

Sam knows something is up with Sherlock. He's on the rooftop. Sherlock is dead. Sherlock told her to accept the offer so she did. Greg is a good friend.

Hello FBI BAU. Penelope Garcia, her old friend. Fun facts, she's the one who taught Garcia how to hack, well at least in the store she did. She started deducing them already. Irene Adler. The team doesn't know she faked her death for a period of time. CIA agent Nielsen. The assassin after is the golem and the reason Irene went after her specifically is so she could get the golem off her back. And James may have a twin Richard Brooke.

Why wouldn't you do an autopsy on the criminal that almost beat Sherlock Holmes. She got her to give up the flash drive though. She just found out Sherlock saved Irene.

Sherlock os back from the dead. When they got to her apartment they has sex. Her last night in the US she played the piano for the team.

She is back in London. The people waiting for her at the airport is Sherlock, John and an old face she hasn't seen in a long time, Rose. But she's introduced as Mary. It's weird to see Sherlock flirt. Before he's so Samara at the FBI field office he didn't deduce anyone because he was so focused on seeing Sam again. They both just said no to a case. Sam was like not till Sherlock's done eating. Then Sherlock was like come back tomorrow we have plans today. They had a cute date night.

Samara and Mary AKA Rose are meeting for lunch. A.G.R.A. Sam just found out the whole team's dead. And she's Mary's maid of honor. Mary and John are taking bets on a Samara going to propose to Sherlock or is Sherlock going to propose to Samara. Telegrams. Sherlock's emotional part to his speech. Now to the funny stories. Samara really nailed it on the dot didn't she?

The major was stabbed and locked himself in his room. Sam and Sherlock are talking about their future.

A month after the wedding, Sherlock is found in a drug house. She walks into the hospital saying his full name, William Sherlock Scott Holmes. Charles Augustus Magnussen. I love Mycroft calling Samara out saying stop with that look and then her saying what luck and then him replying the look that says I know something you don't because it's connected to my past but I'm not going to reveal the until it's time. Her brother would be jealous of how Sherlock describes this criminal. Time for Samara to act like Queenie. He threatens Sherlock, she threatens his sister and his niece.

Charles is scared of Queenie. Sherlock just got shot by Mary. Samara ripped into Mary for for shooting her best friend. Sherlock knows that if Mary kills him Sam will kill Mary.

Sam admitted to being a big part of the lie. Sam explained that she is the reason Mary got in to his office. When Sam threatens every single assassin that if they even touch a member of the Holmes family they will be tortured. Then Sam admits psycho runs in the family. Sherlock just killed Charles Magnussen. Before getting on the plane, Sherlock asked Sam to move on from him. Then countrywide video of her brother saying did you miss me.

Mycroft pulled Sherlock from The deadly mission. Samara told John about Irene Adler while she was in America and Richard Brooke. Sam and Sherlock are going to be godparents. Sam just put Sherlock's phone in her bra to get him to stop texting. And they babysit baby Watson it's adorable. The Charlie Welsborough case. And something just caught Sherlock's attention.

Time for her to go to a payphone. On the other line was Ajay, cleaning Rose betrayed them. She's going to go talk to Rose. Sam had Mary tell her exactly how it played out. Now she has to talk to Ajay again.

John replaced himself with a balloon I always find that bit funny. I always find this episode funny because he goes on to lie to the sky saying that his wife's a spot and she's working for James and the just to find out she willing left him. I feel like it's all so proof that Sherlock Holmes has a sense of humor. Sherlock now knows that the bust breaking has something to do with A.G.R.A. Why is Garcia's ex calling her? He's warning her, saying she's in danger. James is alive. Her brother is alive.

Sherlock knows he's alive now, and so does Mary and John. Sherlock just found out A.G.R.A. is an organization of multiple people not just Mary's initials. He asked her to go back to the flat. Penelope Garcia now knows that Sam's brother had her ex-boyfriend at gunpoint. And Garcia just told Sam that Irene Adler is dead. Morocco. Mary forgot that Sam put tracking devices in the USBs. Queenie was A.G.R.A.s biggest secret. John just said Sam's main priority is keeping Sherlock alive. Sam is like a mother and she would be an awesome mother. Cuz she just made Ajay in the middle of pointing a gun at Mary made him give it up and threatened to smack him in the backside of the head.

Old habits die hard? I forgot I wrote that part. They really didn't think she was going to investigate Ammo? To the aquarium we go. Queenie is considered a reliable killer. Sam just pushed Sherlock out of the way of a bullet, hitting her. However, she's laughing because her jacket is made out of Kevlar. Sherlock still me to go to the hospital though.

Sherlock is going to propose. Sam suspect something and it's driving her crazy. She said yes.

She's telling her team that was back in America and about her brother they seem to be happy about the marriage but concerned about James. John convinced them to at least have a small wedding.

Sherlock was in a coma.That's my filling for the culverton Smith episode. Sherlock's secret sister. She hacked the British government to find out where Sherlock's sister was being held. The motion sensor bomb drone.

They broke into the facility, Sherlock didn't want Samara to go but Samara didn't give him a choice. Mycroft and Sam have such a brother sister relationship. And the facility has been compromised. The little girl in the plane. James praised her hacking skill to Sherlock's sister. And we are left on that scene where John's about to kill the governor.

John couldn't do it and hand it off to Sam. Sam took it without hesitation, apologized then shot him. The three are shook. Back to little girl. Sam has had enough of Mycroft's sass. Back to little girl after going into a room with only a computer. Oh shit Sam's pregnant.

Sam was knocked out before she got into the other room. And woke up in a different room without anyone else in there, well except her brother and Sebastian Moran. And Sebastian turns out to be an old fling. After her brother left, she was tortured and then knocked out. She woke up in the hospital. Samara had a miscarriage. Which led to a serious talk about them having kids in the future.

It's time for the wedding chapter. Her maid of honor is Mary. Her bridesmaids are Garcia and JJ. Sherlock's best man is John. His groomsman are Greg and his brother. Right now she's picking everyone up from the airport. The team is finding out about Sherlock's secret sister and that she was pregnant and then had a miscarriage. The vows are so sweet, they're officially married now.

He is so sweet. Sherlock can't cook and I find that funny. James has made an appearance in the flat. Lestrade came with a case. The bodies said "For Queenie" on them and you didn't want to tell Queenie.

She's confronting her crazy fan. He revealed the Oracle is alive. Oracle is the first person she ever killed it was in self-defense, but still. She's going to attempt to recruit her brother to keep on her side. James agreed to be on her side.

Samara is pregnant again. Sherlock is shook but happy. Mycroft has decided that the child will be spoiled. Greg has a thing for Mycroft. And James just found that she's pregnant.

The first ultrasound. The person claiming to be the oracle, his daughter. She didn't know how bad of a person her father was, harming 38 women.

The final chapter, it's a girl. Sacora Faith Holmes. I remember when I came up with that name for the kid, I was actually and study hall of my junior year of high school and I had everything planned out for the story in a notebook and that's what I would do during study hall. She has blue eyes. Her first word was crime scene. In the end Rosie and Sacora end up dating.

Overall, it is probably one of my better stories. I do notice in these stories I did forget to put a trigger warning. So my final rating is 9/10, took a point out for missing a trigger warning.

[gaycrouton]

My Ode to FanFicton and FanFiction writers

An Ode to FanFiction (In honor of National FanFiction Writers Appreciation Day)

———————————————————

Some may find it cheesy, I couldn’t care less; FanFiction has been my constant friend throughout my life.

I’m fortunate enough to be able to say we’ve grown up side by side. From having to look up Twilight and Harry Potter FanFiction on my family’s dinosaur of a computer, to breaking the buttons of my flip phone scrolling through fluff, to having fifty tabs of X-Files smut open constantly in my pocket, we’ve always been inseparable.

Because of this innate, ingrained connection, I feel vehemently protective of my dear friend. Especially when we live in a society that makes it the butt of jokes. In honor of this celebratory day, I just wanted to share my admiration.

It is no secret; when most people mention FanFiction, they’re referencing teenage fangirls that have unnecessarily been chosen as the societal black sheep. From boy bands, to teen magazines, to my beloved FanFiction, it seems that anything that catches the interest of a young girl is inconsequential, vapid, and redundant. This could not be farther from the truth.

I found FanFiction when I was ten, and it was purely incidental. However, as a young bookworm, I was enthralled. I was shown characters I love in scenarios I thought only existed in my dreams. Since then, as I’ve jumped from fandom to fandom, I’ve absorbed more words than a thousand novels could contain. As cheesy as it is, “reading is power.” With every new story I consumed, I learned another person’s perspective, my vocabulary improvised, my sense of empathy deepened, and my love of reading only grew.

I know there is a stereotype of the “horny tween obsessed with FanFiction” and so fucking what? You’re going through puberty, your curious, it’s a natural part of life. Everyone is going to want to explore, and the internet has become to go-to tool for that. Would you rather have a horny, curious tween go to PornHub and watch, frequently, degrading and unrealistic depictions or sex OR would you rather have them reading descriptions of what love and lust idealistically could be? They’re reading, it’s more than just flash and bang, and many times it’s worth while. Don’t get me wrong, I KNOW what type of smutty FanFiction exists, but I hope you’re getting the point I’m trying to make, lol.

All of that’s just on the spectrum of reading, those interested in writing get fully immersed into the craft. Of course, early on it might be hard to determine what “good” FanFiction writing is versus “bad”, and all that’s subjective anyway. What’s important is they find styles they like, they get to experiment with sentence flow and tone, character development and plot structure. I mean, people who write FanFiction as a hobby are, in essence, doing self-imposed homework. Constantly working to better themselves.

My first FanFiction writing attempts were for NCIS and Law and Order SVU written when I was 12/13. They are atrocious. However, I made a promise to try and write something new every year, a promise I’ve made and have been able to notice a significant improvement. This in part has to go with the extraordinary support and kindness of those in the FanFiction community. People that comment and share your work, people who give you advice, people who become your friends though you’ve never met, and people you admire and absorb every word of until you can try to emulate them. The FanFiction community, as much as I’ve experienced, is so uplifting and welcoming. What more could you ask for?

This was sappy, unnecessary, and reductive, but I just wanted to gush a bit. This year some people wished me a “Happy Fanfic writers day” and said they appreciated me, and it just made me feel so good. If I could go back and time and tell the frustrated thirteen year old, trying her best to describe Olivia Benson’s chestnut hair, that one day people would love a story she wrote, she wouldn’t believe me. I have a long way to go, but no matter where I end up, I know FanFiction will be right by my side.

-Nicole (FF.net/AO3: OnlyTheInevitable) (Twitter/Tumblr: gaycrouton)

[aksannyi]

I swear to you I've just spent two days re-reading all your NCIS fanfics and I can't even say which one I love the most! They are all so amazing! The characters are so well characterized that it feels as if I'm watching them move around and hearing them speak! I've been out of the fandom for a while (11x02ish) but I still am a huge tiva shipper, I've been since I was 13, and when I want to read some high quality fanfics, you are always my first choice! Thank you so much for your work!

This just made my fucking day. Seriously. I don’t know where you got the stamina to read them all in two days but bless you! This is the kind of message that makes the birds sing and the rainbows come out in the sky lool.

I also left the NCIS fandom since 11x02 but I’m still a Tiva fandom member. Does Tiva every really go away?

I want to say there are more fics in the works but it’s been months since I’ve even opened my fic folder. I promise there will be more, I just don’t know when, sadly. But thank you thank you thank you for this message, it really did make my entire day.

(Btw, normally I would answer privately but tumblr’s messaging system is awful and there will be no record of this ask once I’ve answered it and I want to remember this whenever I’m feeling shitty about myself.)

[chicgeekgirl89]

Bonnie and Clyde

So I’m a crazy person and I thought I had posted this like...months ago. Apparently not. Special thanks to @divergent338 for helping me through fanfic crisis this morning! 

Post ep for “Golden Days.”

She heard the door open and finally released the white knuckled grip she’d had on her coffee mug for the last thirty minutes since the text ‘On my way home’ had popped up on her phone. It had been her first communication from him in hours and done little to relieve her anxiety. “Deeks?”

“Yeah,” he called stepping into the living room.

She rose and hugged him. “Are you all right?” Her eyes roamed his body searching for any sign of physical harm.

“I’m okay.”

“I got worried when you didn’t call,” she told him as he collapsed onto the couch.

That was an understatement. It had taken every ounce of willpower she had not to bombard him with text messages. With every passing minute she’d grown more certain that Whiting’s entire plan for “coffee” had actually been a sting operation and Deeks had been dragged off to the deepest, darkest hole of a prison she could find. Panicked was a more appropriate word for what Kensi had been feeling for the past three hours as she’d waited for him to walk in the door.

“Yeah, sorry, I just um, I had a lot to think about,” he told her, his eyes looking past her to a place she couldn’t see.

It was that look. The one he got when the world had caught up with him and he’d resigned himself to the fact that a happy ending wasn’t something he deserved. He was lost in the past, had gone back to the place where he’d had to fight tooth and nail every single day just to survive, when he’d been alone and forced to make decisions she knew he regretted. Watching him relive those choices hurt her in a way she would never admit to him. It was an awful look and it scared her.

She sat next to him, covering his hand with her own. “Baby, what happened?”          

“I went to see Whiting. She wants me…she told me—“ he seemed unable to continue.

“Are you going to jail?” She tried unsuccessfully to keep the tremor out of her voice.

He shook his head. “Not yet.”

She swallowed. “Okay, that’s good. That means we have time.”

She waited for him to say something else, but he just sat there, looking lost, increasing the level of her anxiety by a thousand percent every second. She desperately needed to know more; a word for word transcription of everything he and Whiting had discussed would not have been out of place in this moment.

He still wasn’t looking at her when he finally spoke. “If I asked you to get in the car and go, right now, just drive away and leave everything behind, would you come with me?”

The question froze her. This wasn’t some flight of fancy about beaches and sunshine. It wasn’t a joke. He was serious.

“Would you go?” he asked again, finally looking at her. “Without asking any questions, would you come with me and just…leave?”

The fear in his eyes shook her. Marty Deeks was many things but scared wasn’t one of them. Whatever had happened, it had been enough to make him actually consider leaving. For good.

“Yes.” She said it without hesitation, her mind already racing. If they left now they could be out of California in a few hours. They would have to change cars, ditch their phones. Even that might not be enough to keep Callen and Sam from coming after them. They wouldn’t just be running. They would have to vanish.

“Even after all you’ve been through, even after how hard you worked to get back to NCIS?”

He had no idea how very little NCIS mattered compared to him. If she hadn’t made that clear before she was going to now. After the year they’d had, after all they’d been through she refused to lose him. Not to Whiting, not to anyone. If he was going, she would be right there beside.

“Baby,” she touched her forehead to his, cradling his face in her hands, “If you say we have to go, then we’re gone. I trust you. I believe in you. You’re a good man, a good detective. I would run with you anywhere.”

He shuddered and when he spoke his voice shook. “I don’t know what’s going to happen…”

She pulled him into her chest, her fingers moving soothingly through his hair. “It’s going to be all right,” she murmured. “We’re going to be all right. No matter what. I’ve got your back. I’ll be right here. Just breathe. Breathe.”

“I don’t want to lose you. What we have…”

“You won’t. I’m right here.”

He took a deep breath, finally pulling away enough to look at her, his face utter misery. “Every time I think this is done, it comes back again. Maybe I deserve it, maybe I should just go turn myself in. At least then it would be over.”

“No,” Kensi told him firmly. “We have already gone down that road. What you did, you did for the right reasons and we both know that. Whiting knows it too. You saved her life. She needs to let it rest.”

“She wants me to….spy on LAPD. She thinks Bates is dirty.”

“She’s blackmailing you,” Kensi said incredulously. “What a bitch. She better pray I don’t see her anytime soon. What a way to say thank you.”

Deeks finally quirked half a smile. “Yeah there’s a significant lack of gratitude there for the whole life-saving thing. Kind of thought that would buy me a little absolution.”

“I say we go kick her ass before we Bonnie and Clyde it out of here,” Kensi muttered.

He chuckled and she felt some of the tension leave her body. The urgency of the moment was broken and reason started to resettle over both of them. They weren’t going anywhere, at least not tonight.

“I’m sorry,” he told her. “The more I thought about it the more I panicked and when I saw you I just…” he shook his head, “I would never ask you to leave like that.”

“I know,” she told him. “We’re going to figure this out. Together.”

“I don’t want you—“

“I know you don’t want to drag me into this,” she cut him off as gently as she could. “But you sat by my bedside for months and not once did you let me think I could quit. It’s my turn to take care of you now.” She smiled and squeezed his hand. “And there’s no way I’m letting Whiting take you off to prison alone. You’re far too pretty to last long in there without me.”

“You know, there are no such thing as a couple’s cell in prison,” he told her as she slid into his lap.

“They’ll make an exception for us, Clyde,” she teased. “Besides, we won’t be in there for long anyway.”

“You got a plan to bust us out, Bonnie?” he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

She smiled and leaned forward to whisper in his ear. “Nell’s going to bake a cake with a file in it.”

“Oh she’s in on it huh?”

“Mmhhmm. And Eric’s got enough TNT to blow those cinderblock walls wide open.”

“He does seem to have a sudden and unhealthy obsession with explosions.”

 “Callen and Sam will be on lookout duty.”

“And what’s Hetty up to while we’re making our great escape?”

“Getaway driver.”

“Naturally,” he nodded. “Well you’ve clearly got this all figured out. I don’t know why I was ever worried.”

“You’re not in this alone, Deeks. This time, I’ve got you covered. I promise.”

[baranskini]

I have a question about writing a fanfiction. did you ever feel like what people don't like my work etc.. and did you recieve any negative comments and how you deal with it ? i wanna write but i care too much what other people think. if you answer this i would be very happy take care !

Oh anon, yes. I do feel like that and I have received multiple negative reviews, I have almost my entire writing... um, I wanna say career but it's certainly not that, so my entire writing...journey.

One review will stick with me until I die, it literally lives rent free in my mind. I must have been about 13 or 14, and I had just discovered fanfic and was writing for the NCIS fandom I believe, and someone left a review that basically said that they knew I was a kid from the way I wrote and could tell that from how shitty my writing was and how little I knew about the world. I don't remember the entire thing but this sentence will never leave me "you are an embarrassment to the fanfic writers on here, a child trying to play with the adults." after that review I deleted all my works, out of shame, and made sure my account was removed and didn't bother writing again until was in my twenties.

And It is still with me, whenever I write or post, I still think about it, and it hurts, whoever said sticks and stones would hurt more than words was a fucking liar. Because I can still feel it in my gut every time I write anything, and what's worse is, even if people say nice things about my work I very rarely believe it. I'm dead serious. I see a nice review and I feel so uncomfortable and nervous that people are just saying those things to mock me or IDK, talk about me behind my back or something similar. I'm still that little girl reading that review and crying alone in my room because no one else knew I wrote fanfic. I'm still so insecure about my writing and I doubt a million compliments could change that.

But, wait, let me capitalize that, BUT, BUT you shouldn't let that stop you! It's scary as hell, and I can't promise you won't get horrid comments or reviews or that they won't break you, that they won't cut you deeply, and I can't even tell you how to block it out or cope with it, but I can tell you, that if you feel the need or the desire to write, you should do it. Write your story, not for the reviewers or the likes, but for you. If it brings you joy, if you feel like it will somehow put your mind at ease, then write, fucking write. Do it, write a story, go for it, that's the reason I write, because I can't not.

It won't be easy, but it may just be worth it. You may find that you are better than you think, you may find you're an amazing writer, but even if you don't that's okay, do what makes your soul shine. Do it to make yourself happy!