FIC: Infinite Jest

[chamekke]

Title: Infinite Jest
Author: chamekke
Rating: Green Cortina
Word count: 6,000
Notes: Written for nepthys_uk, as part of the Ficathon 2010 on lifein1973, using her prompts 'ensemble, humour, DCI Litton's game of one-upmanship'. Huge thanks to draycevixen for her encouragement and suggestions.
Summary: Two DCIs. Two egos. One station.

Comments

[margo_kim]

Oh, this is brilliant. So many great ideas. I loved the escalation and how quickly both departments lost the moral high ground. And their glee. And their utter commitment. You know Litton and Gene could have done this forever. I love how the RCS is like the mirror version of the CID. Sam and Litton's DI should meet up for drinks once a week and sigh about their bosses.

And Gene's lecture/praise at the end was great. Annie and Gene interacting is so rare and it was done so well here. It's like he's proud of her and baffled by her. And she's immature and strong both at once. I really like everyone's characterization here.

Nice going on 6000 words, by the way. I'm trying to wrap up a 4000 word fic and that's exhausting, I can't imagine lengthening it. I'm in awe.

[chamekke]

Yes, both sides enjoyed it enormously, even if they wouldn't admit it. Honestly, I think the prank war functioned as a surprisingly healthy team-building exercise for both sides. For one thing, not only was Annie included in the team by the end of it all, but even Sam and Ray were getting along for once. (And on the RCS side, if nothing else at least Litton will finally manage to remember that Cliff's name isn't Claude.)

Sam and Litton's DI should meet up for drinks once a week and sigh about their bosses.

You know, they really should? They truly are mirror images of each other - except that Sam would never misspell a fellow police officer's name, natch. Otherwise, similarities abound. (BTW I did take some satisfaction in making a *senior* officer the sole Nameless One of RCS :-)

It's like he's proud of her and baffled by her. And she's immature and strong both at once.

Yes, that's exactly right. I'm so glad that you saw that.

Nice going on 6000 words, by the way. I'm trying to wrap up a 4000 word fic and that's exhausting, I can

[basaltgrrl]

Hey! I FINALLY found the time to read this, and I'm so very glad I did, because IT WAS AWESOME!!! Haven't read anything quite like this before, and it's absolute fun!
Really thought Gene's voice in particular was spot-on throughout. Love the mentions of the other members of the teams. The morgue prank was spectacular. And Annie - Oh Annie, yes Annie! She rocks. Love that it ends with the Gene/Annie scene, which plays out just perfectly.

[chamekke]

Thank you, I'm glad you liked it. Thanks especially for mentioning that the morgue prank worked for you, because TBH I very nearly left it out altogether :-)

[basaltgrrl]

So glad you didn't leave out the morgue prank! It was a great escalation!

[saintvic]

*grins*

This was fantastic fun, loved seeing all the pranks unfold and the reactions of both sides.

And really liked the revelations Gene made at the end of the story to Annie giving this a serious side as well.

Thank you.

[chamekke]

I'm glad you enjoyed it - especially the ending. It really seemed likely to me that the CID team would feel threatened by the likes of bright young Annie zooming up behind them; it could explain some of the mocking behaviour in 2.04, for example. And Gene probably would take this into consideration in the way he deals with Annie, walking a tightrope (to some extent) to maximise team harmony overall.

Thank you for the lovely comments!

[draycevixen]

You really did a lovely job with this idea, the details of the pranks, Annie's observations and reactions along the way and Litton's cunning DI.

Very nicely done, petal. ♥

[chamekke]

Thank you! Quite honestly I don't think I would have made it to the finish line without your kind encouragement and exquisitely gentle kick up the arse. Your next vindaloo and Party Seven are on me! ♥

[oddrid]

This was a real treat to read, definitely bookmarking for revisiting! Oh Annie. ♥

[chamekke]

Thank you for the kind feedback <3