Fandom: GENERATION KILL
Pairing: Nate Fick/Brad Colbert, Ray Person/Walt Hasser, ensemble
Length: 2381
Author on LJ: mydocuments

Fandom: NCIS
Pairing: none current , past Tony/Jeanne
Length: 3,450 words
Author on LJ: writinginct
Author Website: Nocturnal Scribblings
Why this must be read:

Author's Summary: Tony gets a call that leads to many unexpected things: a daughter, a family, and happiness he never expected.

I'm a huge sucker for my favorite characters being fathers; probably 'cause I was so close to my father when he was alive and so know the rewarding relationship that can exist between father and daughter. So of course I had to include a story featuring daddy!Tony. :)

What I really like about this one is that it focuses on the father!Tony aspect almost exclusively, with a bit of healing between Jeanne and Tony on the side. There's no angst-y side stories or life-threatening situations that cause peril for our favorite agent and his progeny. It's all about Tony being faced with a huge surprise in his life and finding the joy in it with the help of his team. Gibbs and team stepped up and provided the support this new single father needed and we get to see the strong bonds of family that exist between this group of people. Then there's Tony and his little girl; I could literally picture the wonder on his face at the knowledge that he was a daddy now and this little person was now the center of his universe. This is one of those stories that will just make you smile after reading it, one of those true feel good stories that every fandom needs amongst the angst.

Unexpected Happiness

Fandom: due South
Pairing: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski
Length: 1444 words
Author on LJ: etcetera_cat and Lucifuge5 on DW
Author Website: etcetera_cat and Lucifuge5 on AO3
Why this must be read:

Perfect for a Monday chuckle, this one's a worthy sequel to etcetera_cat's Four Ways Dief Shows His Love For Turtle (And One That's Vice Versa). It's the return of Boss Ben, Spiky Ray and walking pebble, as Fraser accuses Dief of a transgression he swears he didn't commit. A great Dief-POV piece and the Fraser-Dief conversation is spot-on, 

( A preview... )

Ain't Misbehaving can be found on AO3, and please don't forget to leave feedback for the authors.

Fandom: The Magnificent Seven
Pairing: None
Length: 500
Author on LJ: solosundance
Author Website: Jojo on AO3
Why this must be read: I have tremendous respect for anybody who can tell a good story in so few words and even more so if I could absolutely buy it as canon. In this set of drabbles we see Maude Standish through the multidimensional lens of new motherhood (baby Ezra, aw!). Best of all is the slow slide of sympathy moving away from mother to son and it's easy to see how Ezra became Ezra.

No one tells you.

Not your grandmother, your mother, your aunts with their cheerful broods, not your best and wisest friends.

No one explains that a child will suck the marrow right out of you.

And Lord in Heaven, the frustration. The weariness. The resent.

Darlin' Boy on AO3

Fandom: WATCHMEN
Pairing: Bill/Byron
Length: 3500
Author on LJ: tyrotheterrible
Author Website: fic tag on their journal
Why this must be read: This fic is adorable and emotional, has the odd sprinkle of humour and transitions from slightly angsty to fluffy wonderfully. In which Byron wants Bill but doesn't want Bill to like him and Bill likes Byron anyway, is too damn nice, and puts up with Byron's boozing. Good characterisation is shown through Byron's cynical and messed up attitude and Bill's relentless acceptance. A must read for everyone who loves the pairing or who just wants to end up feeling good.

Fucking Gentleman

Fandom: THE PROFESSIONALS
Pairing: Bodie/Doyle
Length: 22,516 words
Author on LJ: Not
Author Website: At the Original Hatstand and the Automated Hatstand
Why this must be read: Because sometimes it's good to be sad, and there's something ever so delicious about the darkest, bitterest chocolate ever... Kate Maclean is a consummate writer - words perfectly chosen, world beautifully built, and the lads... well, the lads are who they might just be sometimes, on those nights when the world is going wrong for them, and they're trying desperately to cope. Which ultimately makes Kate Maclean's Bodie/Doyle one of the best things you'll ever put in your mouth read. You just need to appreciate that dark bitter-chocolate tang as it melts your heart away...

Excerpt: He'd always known, hadn't he, what the danger was for him. Known instinctively deep down, that if he ever really let himself fall -- really love someone completely -- he would lose it all. His independence, his dignity, his apartness, his sense of self-preservation. If he ever really let himself love, he wouldn't be able to hold anything back; he'd just ... give himself away. He'd known that.

But Ann'd been for some reason almost irresistible. As if she understood everything about him and what and who he was; as if she were more than just a girl -- a person. Everything he wanted.

And he'd let himself slide, right to the edge.

He moved restlessly, kicking at the duvet with his feet.

Well. He'd learned his lesson hadn't he, and the dragging misery he felt, drove it home.

Didn't pay to want, to need that badly. Was better to stay apart, aloof -- let other people do the wanting. And maybe, someday, he'd find a girl he could care for, who was around at the right time…

He knew one thing though.

He would never allow himself to go over that edge.

Thus it begins...

Scenes from the Edge.