Well, it's been a treat to drive the NCIS van for Feb. I'll pass it on to sinfulslasher when her turn comes around. I've enjoyed sharing the love that is NCIS fanfic and look forward to doing so in the future again! :)

Fandom: NCIS
Pairing: pre slash for Gibbs/Tony ; past Gibbs/Shannon
Length: 2,241 words
Author on LJ: kaylashay81
Author Website: Kayla Shay.com
Why this must be read:

Author's Summary: They became his guardians when he needed them the most. They were his family no matter what kept them apart.

Now to say goodbye from the NCIS fandom for this rec cycle, how about another feel good fic that will just make your heart melt and you go "aaaawwww...."? :D Another supernatural!Tony fic, in this one he can see his guardian angels. And when you find out who those angels were, I swear you'll get tears in your eyes; I did, I'm not afraid to admit. This fic is a sweet example that the Gibbs/Tony part of the fandom has to offer. After reading Gibbs in the basement with his two ladies and them pushing him on to treasure what he now has in his life, I feel like everything will work out somehow. Like I said, a feel good fic, and one of the best. :)

His Guardians, His Family

Fandom: GENERATION KILL
Pairing: Nate Fick/Brad Colbert
Length: 24616
Author on LJ: traveller
Author Website: traveller, AO3
Why this must be read:

This is a story about love. It's about what you do for it, what makes you do it, and how growing into it - acknowledging it - is hard. This is a fantastic story that makes me feel so much, and is one of my go-to inspiration fics. It also touches on some very hard, real issues, deals with them gracefully, and makes art of it. It's future-fic, so only kinda-sorta an AU, but it's one of my favourites, and very high-quality fic.

Nate, now a foreign policy expert who'd been consulting with the State Department, meets the President, and by chance, ends up beside him during an assassination attempt. He's shot. When he leaves hospital, it's Brad that takes him. As they travel home, they discover more about each other, about how they feel. It's an amazing piece, full of feeling and rich description. Nate and Brad are both perfectly drawn, and their emotions and reactions feel so real and true to the characters we know. Nate's trying so hard to get his shit together, and Brad is trying so hard to understand and give him space. The UST between them is stunning, and the payoff is hot as hell.

It's an amazingly-crafted piece, and well worth multiple readings. I've included the entire first section - because cutting it seems like a crime.




( Excerpt... )


Aftermath: USA

Fandom: HAWAII FIVE-0 (new)
Pairing: Steve/Danny
Length: ~ 3300 words
Author on LJ: audrarose; blood_roses (fic journal)
Author Website: Master List of Fiction; Fic on AO3
Why this must be read: Lots of us write from prompts, but it takes a special kind of writer to take "cloud watching" and turn it into a fantastic hurt/comfort piece. Danny's got Steve, but they're running from the bad guys, they're waiting for an extraction team, and, oh yeah, Steve's been shot up with something that's already killed three people. And that's just the beginning!

This is the Danny I love best. He's fierce and loyal and worried as hell, and he'll do whatever he has to do to keep Steve conscious. He talks--because it's what he's best at--and the steady stream of jibes and insults is so in character you can feel Danny's desperation.

What I like about this story is that it's what I imagine the show could be at its very best (with a smidge of porn!) Danny feels everything intensely; Steve tries to brush off danger--but when it matters, they find a way to meet in the middle. Or perhaps on the hood of the Camaro (and if there's anyone out there who doesn't find that hot, I can't help you.)

( 'Have some hypothermia.' )

On LJ: Throw Away the Flowers

On AO3: Throw Away the Flowers

It doesn't matter how old or new or how popular a story is, authors love feedback!

Fandom:  LIFE ON MARS
Pairing: Sam/Annie
Length: 700
Author on LJ: lacidiana
Author Website: here
Why this must be read:

This is absolutely heartbreaking in so many ways and in so many different decades. In 2004, Sam encounters someone who remembers losing him in the 1980s. What's on the page is spare and beautiful and provides a wonderful glimpse at 2000s Sam, but what's not there, the way lacidiana leaves you to imagine what will happen when Sam comes to understand that encounter....absolutely chilling. 

Trauma

Thanks for riding with me! I've had a wonderful time re-reading favorites and exploring the archives, but it's time to pass the keys over to lozenger8
Fandom: LIFE ON MARS
Pairing: Sam/Gene
Length: 670
Author on LJ: lozenger8
Author Website: Fic index here
Why this must be read:

Sam and Gene are very, very physical with one another. I'll pause for a moment and let everyone think of their favorite "getting physical" moments. 

OK. Well, Sam starts to wonder what those moments, non-violent and violent, might mean. The build up here is fantastic, as is the joy Sam derives from being touched. Loz captures many aspects of their dynamics perfectly in such a small space and really communicates what it means for Sam to have that point of contact in Gene, that warmth that tells him he's alive. 

Tactile

Fandom: STARSKY & HUTCH
Pairing: none
Length: short
Author on LJ: not known
Author Website: HERE
Why this must be read: Because it’s short, there is a case and this is exactly how Starsky & Hutch would do it :)

"What can I do for you, officers?" The was an impressive amount of bravado in the question and just enough insinuation to get Starsky's back up.

"We aren't looking for a vice bust," Hutch assured him quietly. "We just need information."

The hustler eyed them warily.

"The stabbing," Hutch elaborated, "two nights ago. Just around the corner from here."

That got them a reaction. The surprise would have been funny if it hadn't been so insulting.

"The cops are looking into that?"

Hustle by Fides

Fandom: STARSKY & HUTCH
Pairing: none
Length: short
Author on LJ: not known
Author Website: HERE
Why this must be read: Because I like case stories and I like when both of our detectives are in danger, and because I like happy endings, and most of all because I like when the minor characters from the show come back and seek revenge.

Hutch thought of Starsky, and the times they'd held each other when they were hurt. He barely got out the words. "I have a partner. We've been together for a long time. We've both been injured on the job, and Starsky's probably had more of my blood on him than I have."

Dr. Henry exhaled slowly. "Then I want him at County General first thing in the morning. He has to be tested, now. I won't say that he's definitely infected, but I know you don't want to take the chance that he is.

Until the Fat Lady Sings by PatL

Fandom: FC BARCELONA
Pairing: Lionel Messi/Ibrahim Afellay
Length: 1800 words
Author on LJ: spdfg
Author Website: fic list
Why this must be read:

So short, so incredibly ouchy. I don't think I've ever seen another fic that deals with the baggage that being a devout Muslim (which a great many footballers are, including several at Barcelona) brings to the happy slash party. This one addresses it obliquely, but I think it's all the more effective for that.

I am independent of the sea

Fandom: FC BARCELONA
Pairing: Pep Guardiola/Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola/Luis Figo
Length: 6308 words
Author on LJ: guede_mazaka
Author Website: Tangible Schizophrenia
Why this must be read:

IT WILL MAKE YOU DIE OF LULZ. I mean, in retrospect this is kind of horrifying because good lord do these pairings ever end in tears, but even so, the comedic timing and the set-up and just the concept of a young Pep Guardiola as a reluctant and resentful seductress who isn't even very good at it...

The Portuguese Man's Guide to Dating

Fandom: FC BARCELONA
Characters: Victor Valdes, Andres Iniesta
Length: 1422 words
Author on LJ: weightedpass
Author Website: fic list
Why this must be read:

Because this is my favorite ship and I want you to understand why. (Self-indulgent, moi? It's my last rec, leave me alone, I do what I want, etc etc etc.) There is so much history between these characters and stickmarionette is so good at bringing it all to life. Childhood sweethearts to the thousandth degree, tears and celebrations and everything in between, and they make me so happy just by existing together.

(Full disclosure, the fic was a gift to me.)

Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)

Fandom: THE PROFESSIONALS
Pairing: Bodie/Doyle
Length: Ficlet (19k)
Author on LJ: hgdoghouse
Author Website: Archived at the Circuit Archive and the Hatstand Archive
Why this must be read: Because this is a rare moment in fic where we see and feel the bustle of the rest room before one of Cowley's briefings - the gossip, the tensions, the in-fighting, and of course our Bodie and Doyle. HG has got a lovely touch with the lads, and with the world around them, and this really feels like a snatched moment in the life of CI5, one of the in-between times that are so often missed, but which are so telling in what they reveal. (It also stands completely alone, I'm never sure why it's declared to be a sequel to Rediscovered in a Graveyard, as there's no solid connection between them that I can see... well, perhaps Doyle's suntan. *g*)

( Excerpt )

Loose Change

Fandom: HAWAII FIVE-0 (new)
Pairing: Steve/Danny/Kono
Length: ~ 5700 words
Author on LJ: robanybody
Author Website: None that I know of - check author's tags and memories for fandom-specific items
Why this must b7e read: I don't typically read much threesome fic, but these last two stories I'm rec'cing are so awesome that they must be read, even if it isn't your thing. What I like about this story is that it's got fantastic banter and everyone seems in character, especially Kono. She wishes Steve and Danny would fuck already, but isn't really opposed to getting caught in the middle of all that sexual tension. Danny's a lot oblivious, and Steve ... well, he's crazy enough to admit what he wants once Kono's given him a nudge in the right direction.

What follows is incredibly hot, and as Danny says: "I feel like maybe I've hit my head and am hallucinating all of this ... Because seriously, this shit only happens in porn ... this does not happen in real fucking life." Except when it does.

Seriously, this story is so hot that even if you're an OTP Steve/Danny slasher, you will wish there were more fics out there like this one.

( She doesn't even know how it starts. Wait, that's a lie, she does know. )

On LJ: Roll Like A Team

It doesn't matter how old or new or how popular a story is, authors love feedback!

For my final rec before returning the van, I'm going with a very new story. The complete title of the story is at the end of the post.

Fandom: DUE SOUTH
Pairing: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski, references to Benton Fraser/Victoria Metcalfe
Length: 4,371 words
Author on LJ: desireearmfeldt
Author Website: (or a link to where more of their fic is archived): Fic tag on AO3
Why this must be read:

Desiree uses the "5 + 1" format to great effect here, with each 'thing' (fingerprints, gun, car, etc.) serving as inspiration for Fraser's reflections on Victoria, Kowalski and Vecchio, and his relationships with them, ,She captures Fraser's voice so well, whether's he musing over the differences between his Rays, or discussing tattoos and scars with Kowalski--you'd think she'd been writing him for years. 

( A preview... )

You can find Five Things Benton Fraser Likes About Police Work in Chicago (Plus One He Hates) over on AO3, and please don't forget to leave feedback for the author.

Last rec of the month! It's been a pleasure sharing some of my favorites with you, and indulging in the wonderful nostalgia of Season 1.

Fandom: HAWAII FIVE-0 (new)
Pairing: Steve/Danny/Catherine
Length: ~ 5400 words
Author on LJ: leupagus; elandrialore
Author Website: elandrialore on AO3; leupagus on AO3; leupagus fic tag on DW
Why this must be read: Catherine Rollins gets the short straw much of the time in fandom. In this story, she ends up being the one directing the scene to a large extent, and I think that's part of the attraction. I mean, that's what we do as writers; we get to put the characters in whatever situations we want and have them act out those fantasies. Catherine's just doing it in the "real" world, so to speak, and she wants to be right in the middle of all that good-looking skin.

I think this fic works so well because it's hot and sensual, but it's also intimate and comfortable. These are three adults who are at ease with one another, and aren't about to spend a lot of time worrying about regrets. It's pretty angst-free, and that's a good thing. Also, the threesome isn't simply a vehicle to get the boys together; it really is about the three of them tangling together with their complicated histories and relationships and finding something in the sharing of all those things.

Again, as someone who doesn't read a lot of this type of fic, I still absolutely recommend it whole-heartedly.

( 'Cath just seems to think that you owe me one of your special massages since you fucked up my knee.' )


On AO3: Under Pressure

It doesn't matter how old or new or how popular a story is, authors love feedback!

Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Pairing: None (Gen) Characters:Jim Ellison, Blair Sandburg
Length: 7543 words
Author on LJ:snycock
Author's website: Psychgirl's page at A Storage Room 3 (Sentinel Fanfic)


Why this must be read:

Psychgirl takes a couple of canon elements – Jim's on and off relationship with his senses, the interpersonal dynamics of the characters, and just how much touching went on between Jim and Blair – and weaves a well-written and researched, clever story with the premise that Jim doesn't just touch Blair in friendship, but out of a physical need neither he nor Blair were aware had developed.

So what happens when he can't sling an arm over Blair's shoulder, or pat him on the cheeks, or give him a noogie? A sexual harassment charge is the catalyst that supplies the answer.

Some things I really liked while reading were the easy friendship between Jim and Blair in the beginning of the story, the motives of the person who brought the charges, the growing sense Blair has that something is wrong, and the emphasis on the mind-body-sentinel connection.

The ending isn't tidy and wrapped up in a bow, and I love that about this story. There's an innocence that's been lost between them, and I have to wonder what lies ahead in their future.


( Blair's told about the charges against Jim )


Intangible by Psychgirl.