Fandom: THE MAN FROM UNCLE
Pairing: Napoleon/Illya, Illya/other
Length: 7,000 words
Author on LJ: viviana7 
Author Website: some of her stuff can be found at The Chrome and Gunmetal Madhouse
Why this must be read: Written for the muncle  Down the Chimney story exchange, "Exit Strategy" is a gorgeously written story centering on Illya's loneliness and longing, his dreams and desires. Viviana beautifully captures both boys uncertainty in their professional and personal relationship as they both struggle forward. Your heart will ache for our favorite Russian as the author deftly weaves her tale and wraps you around her little finger in the process. Remember this was written for a Christmas exchange so you'll be rewarded with a happy ending as well as being treated to a thoroughly delightful short story and oh so very hot sex.

Exit Strategy

Fandom: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (NEW)
Pairing: Gen, multi-character
Length: 28,182 words
Author on LJ: beccatoria
Author Website: fic listed here
Why this must be read:

I have honestly never read anything quite like this. It goes AU after "The Hub;" Laura Roslin is the final Cylon, Natalie is still alive, and Kara Thrace is the first Cylon/Human hybrid. And that's just the first few paragraphs. This fic is epic in every sense of the word, delving into the history of the canon universe, the Cycle of Time, the fate of Earth, the Hybrids - all the mythology that makes the show itself so rich. It focuses primarily on Laura, Kara, Caprica, and the Cylons, but it's long enough that virtually every character has a role to play and gets his or her due. The characterizations are flawless and the ending is as satisfying as anything we're likely to get. And even though it's long, it's completely riveting; I couldn't put my laptop down. :)

Excerpt:

Laura Roslin died; so much morpha she was barely aware of Bill or the book. Of his son, or of Kara Thrace.

Laura Roslin died, a cold metal ring on her finger, two grieving men, and the harbinger of death at her side.

Laura Roslin woke up in a vat of white goo. She was a little disappointed. She was tired; she'd been ready, she'd felt done. But this was impossible. The hub was gone. This was a morpha-dream. She'd wake up, barely, to Bill and the book and his son and Kara Thrace and they'd start again, this waiting for death.

Thrace was terribly inefficient. She'd mention that, when she woke up, in her broken voice. She'd mention it if she could remember.

That room – the room where she had died (no, she reminded herself, the room where she was dying right now) – that room was a place where her thoughts never made it as far as her lips. Her brain was misfiring on morpha; her thoughts were eating themselves the way her body was eating itself, and this was the first time in days she had entertained an idea that complex.

She wondered if she'd forget it, when she woke up. If she'd forget this dream: the goo was warmer than it had looked in the hybrid's bath. The vat was so much more comfortable than a hospital bed.

Laura Roslin turned her head to the left and saw Natalie, the Six, kneeling. Natalie pressed her long, elegant fingers against Laura's mouth, just for a second, and said, “I'm so sorry, Madam President.”

“What for?” Laura asked. Her voice was high and clear: it was like discovering she could have been a concert soprano. She had forgotten what it was like to speak without effort.

“It's not a dream,” Natalie said. “I'm so sorry.”

The Body is a Myth

Fandom: NCIS
Pairing: (kind of) Gibbs/DiNozzo with an appearance of Jackson Gibbs
Length: ~ 4.000
Author on LJ: rageprufrock
Author Website: Glitterati
Why this must be read:

People who know Pru from SGA fandom will not really be surprised when they fall in love with this story. For everyone else who has never heard of Pru: if you loved “6x04 Heartland”, you should not be surprised when you want to hump this fic. You will laugh, you will go awwww, you will laugh some more and then you will read it all over again. This is one of these fics where you love every second of your reading experience. 'Nuff said.

In-Law

Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Pairing: Jim/Blair
Length: LONG – no word count available sorry, but it’s got to be at least 100-150K in total.
Author on LJ: eliade
Author Website: Anna’s Stories
Why this must be read: Because by turns it’s dark, sweet, and so, so moving. It’s three in one and in the first part, Down to the Woods, we’re in Man Land, a fishing trip with the entire gang post-series (Blair is no longer a cop). The banter is perfect, as is the sense of something building between Jim and Blair. But towards the end it gets dark, no bones about it. The cabin is invaded and Blair is brutally attacked. It’s not torture porn by any means, but if you know you can’t read such things, then skip to part two, The Tree Becoming, where time jumps forward and we’re in the aftermath. Jim and Blair are both dealing, and trying to find their way back to what was emerging between them before the attack. The whole series is not nearly as dark as it sounds, and I personally find the third part, The Wood Beyond, a great comfort read. Why? Because this is the Jim I always wanted for Blair; quiet, solid, full of care and love, and not a gram of mush or sentiment to take him out of character. And Anna’s writing is so intense and beautiful it steals your breath at times.

He drew his head back and gazed up at Jim. Sometimes he didn't know what to say in the face of Jim's kindness, or to his literal face in which handsomeness disguised such beauty that Blair would have thrown himself on a knife in sacrifice to it. Sometimes there were moments when he looked at Jim and recognized that he'd wanted this man for as long as memory stretched, wanted these elements, as starkly as a child wants snowfall or a father. He'd just been waiting, like a boy standing at a fence in twilight surrounded by snow and emptiness and silence, looking at a road down which no one ever came. - The Wood Beyond-

Down to the Woods
The Tree Becoming
The Wood Beyond

EDIT: Be sure to read Anna's introduction to her trilogy at her website.

Fandom: TOUR OF DUTY
Pairing: Myron Goldman/Zeke Anderson, Roger Horn
Author on LJ: henrycat
Author website: Notes From the Underground

Why this must be read: A few years ago several Tour of Duty writers got together and put together a very nice zine. This story is from that zine. What I like about this story is that it is post war and it explores seeing Myron and Zeke's relationship from another character's point of view (Roger Horn). What happens when the people you remembered from the war are different? Or, rather, shall we say you perceive them as different? Another reason I like this story is I (and many ToD fans) have a soft spot for the quirky character of Roger Horn, who was injured and sent home. Did I mention Roger had a harmonica? A harmonica he can't play well at all? Oh yeah, without squinting too much it's pretty easy to imagine that Roger had a thing for his LT (Myron). I love the conversation between Zeke and Roger in this story as two men who can appreciate Myron Goldman in all his snarky goodness. Oh, yes, and hotness abounds.


( Excerpt )


SEEMS LIKE OLD TIMES

Fandom: MARVEL COMICS (AVENGERS)
Pairing: Tony Stark/Steve Rogers
Length: 4259 words
Author on LJ: crimsonquills
Author Website: CrimsonQuills.com | "fic (my stories)" tagged entries on crimsonquills (most recent)
Why this must be read:

I had a hard time picking out a fic of Nix's to rec - she's written so many, and they're all good. Finally decided on this one because, well. It's gleefully cliche ridden (hypothermia! cuddling huddling for warmth!), hot as hell, and starts with the team (Spiderman! Wolverine!) fighting a dragon. A dragon. In the snow. For Dr. Strange.

He was moving too fast and the footing was too poor to stop now; Steve scooped up his weapon and prepared to spin aside, hoping the disc would be enough to protect him. But even as the rush of freezing air told him he'd cut it too close, a red and gold streak slammed into the side of the dragon's head. Steve scrambled out of the way as Iron Man fired his repulsors point blank into the dragon's cheek. It wasn't enough to hurt the beast, but it knocked the great head aside. Iron Man shot up into the air, away from the jaws...

...and into range of the uninjured wing. "Iron Man!" Steve shouted, but though the golden Avenger jetted to one side, the long spike tipping the wing slammed into him with all the force of the dragon's rage and pain. Iron Man went tumbling through the air, so far and so fast that Steve actually lost sight of him.

Good Things Come in Cold Packages