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TwoWeevils ([identity profile] twoweevils.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] crack_van2007-06-04 11:55 am
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Blooded by malnpudl (PG)

Hola! Welcome to the NCIS [livejournal.com profile] crack_van for June 2007! M&K will be your (somewhat) friendly drivers. Our tastes tend toward the Gibbs/DiNozzo realm, but we're going to make an effort to broaden our horizons for your crack-ish pleasure. NCIS has been on [livejournal.com profile] crack_van for just over a year and this will be the 101st recommendation. Very cool. Now, are you sitting comfortably? Are your seat belts fastened? Excellent! Here we go...

Fandom: NCIS
Pairing: McGee/Sciuto; Gibbs/DiNozzo
Author on LJ: [livejournal.com profile] malnpudl
Author Website: n/a

Why this must be read: NCIS is a show that doesn't pull punches when it comes to showing you the figurative and literal guts of crime investigation. However, in my experience of NCIS fanfic, there isn't a lot of emphasis on the mechanics of crime scene and police procedure. Blooded is an outstanding exception. The story focuses on Tim McGee at one of his first really bad crime scenes and it isn't for the squeamish. [livejournal.com profile] malnpudl does a brilliant job of capturing the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes from McGee's perspective as an inexperienced investigator -- the perspective that most of us would have if we had to go to work at a brutal murder scene. But she doesn't allow the gore to overshadow the undercurrents of the characters' responses to the situation. McGee is determined to succeed and mirrors the pain the whole team has experienced -- we see Kate toughing it out, Gibbs's simmering anger over the crime, and the bravado Tony uses to cover his own vulnerabilities.

This piece is emotionally charged, but extremely subtle -- as are the references to the McGee/Sciuto and Gibbs/DiNozzo relationships. Near the end, there's a beautifully piercing moment between Gibbs and DiNozzo as seen from McGee's perspective -- it still makes me cry.

Eyes open or closed, it didn't matter; he could still see the bodies, two of them. No, two people. They were dead, but they were still people.

[identity profile] blueraccoon.livejournal.com 2007-06-04 04:28 pm (UTC)(link)
woot! So glad to see you behind the wheel of the van this month, and especially glad to see this story as your first rec. It's wonderful; excellent rec.