Crack Van Rec 6: Reflections I & II - RedVelvetRibbon (PG-13)
Fandom: NCIS
Pairing: Leroy Jethro Gibbs/Timothy McGee
Length: 2,073 in total
Author on LJ: redvelvetribbon
Author Website: None of which I am aware
Why this must be read:
RedVelvetRibbon was the person who first enticed me into reading Gibbs/McGee in what I thought would be a one off. Since that story she hadn't written another one that was just Gibbs/McGee so I was delighted when recently up popped one and then with a little gentle 'persuading' she very kindly wrote the companion piece to it.
The stories, the first from Gibbs's and the second from Tim's point of view, are very poignant and moving as they are about each man's fears that they aren't really what the other wants, that they will soon lose the other person. Tim has changed because he thinks that is what Gibbs wants and that Gibbs wouldn't want him as he was, but Gibbs is troubled by all the changes Tim has made because he thinks the day will soon come when Tim will have changed and grown so much as to move on from him. Talk about two men needing their heads banged together - someone needs to sit them down and tell them to talk.
The characterisation is excellent. I know people might think at first that the idea of Gibbs being uncertain and worried about losing a lover is totally OOC, but it isn't. He has a vulnerable side, we see it; it's well hidden, but it's there and we don't know what goes on in his head. So to me it was very easy to read the story from his POV and totally and utterly believe it. Ditto with Tim, who is on the face of it more vulnerable and uncertain and I find the reason RedVelvetRibbon gives for all the changes he made totally believable and in character.
A really good pair of stories that allow you to get into the heads of two wonderful men and see beyond what we see on the screen.
There are so far three more stories in this universe, but they are still part of a WIP series, whereas, in effect, these two can stand alone.
And so here he was in Tim’s bed. Again.
Tim had grown a lot and changed over the last few years. He had put away childish things and settled into the skin of the more confident, experienced Special Agent Timothy McGee. His clothes had changed, his car, his teeth, his expensive toys, and his hair. He had put aside the sugary dinosaur breakfast cereal in exchange for a breakfast burrito or plain toast. It made Gibbs wonder if he too would be out grown like a once favored suit or breakfast cereal, slowly pushed aside to sit unwanted in a container high on a kitchen shelf.
He knew he shouldn’t be so melancholy when he lay with a man who loved him desperately in his arms. But he just couldn’t seem to help it. He also couldn’t seem to help the fierce desire to protect this man child he knew so well. Something about Tim made him want to hold on somehow to the old naïve Tim instead of allowing him to learn the harsh lessons and take the knocks life gave. But it wasn’t to be. Day by day Tim was growing up and he just hoped he would be able to stay a part of it for a while longer.
Reflection I
Reflections II
Pairing: Leroy Jethro Gibbs/Timothy McGee
Length: 2,073 in total
Author on LJ: redvelvetribbon
Author Website: None of which I am aware
Why this must be read:
RedVelvetRibbon was the person who first enticed me into reading Gibbs/McGee in what I thought would be a one off. Since that story she hadn't written another one that was just Gibbs/McGee so I was delighted when recently up popped one and then with a little gentle 'persuading' she very kindly wrote the companion piece to it.
The stories, the first from Gibbs's and the second from Tim's point of view, are very poignant and moving as they are about each man's fears that they aren't really what the other wants, that they will soon lose the other person. Tim has changed because he thinks that is what Gibbs wants and that Gibbs wouldn't want him as he was, but Gibbs is troubled by all the changes Tim has made because he thinks the day will soon come when Tim will have changed and grown so much as to move on from him. Talk about two men needing their heads banged together - someone needs to sit them down and tell them to talk.
The characterisation is excellent. I know people might think at first that the idea of Gibbs being uncertain and worried about losing a lover is totally OOC, but it isn't. He has a vulnerable side, we see it; it's well hidden, but it's there and we don't know what goes on in his head. So to me it was very easy to read the story from his POV and totally and utterly believe it. Ditto with Tim, who is on the face of it more vulnerable and uncertain and I find the reason RedVelvetRibbon gives for all the changes he made totally believable and in character.
A really good pair of stories that allow you to get into the heads of two wonderful men and see beyond what we see on the screen.
There are so far three more stories in this universe, but they are still part of a WIP series, whereas, in effect, these two can stand alone.
And so here he was in Tim’s bed. Again.
Tim had grown a lot and changed over the last few years. He had put away childish things and settled into the skin of the more confident, experienced Special Agent Timothy McGee. His clothes had changed, his car, his teeth, his expensive toys, and his hair. He had put aside the sugary dinosaur breakfast cereal in exchange for a breakfast burrito or plain toast. It made Gibbs wonder if he too would be out grown like a once favored suit or breakfast cereal, slowly pushed aside to sit unwanted in a container high on a kitchen shelf.
He knew he shouldn’t be so melancholy when he lay with a man who loved him desperately in his arms. But he just couldn’t seem to help it. He also couldn’t seem to help the fierce desire to protect this man child he knew so well. Something about Tim made him want to hold on somehow to the old naïve Tim instead of allowing him to learn the harsh lessons and take the knocks life gave. But it wasn’t to be. Day by day Tim was growing up and he just hoped he would be able to stay a part of it for a while longer.
Reflection I
Reflections II