Post by txncistn on Sept 25, 2007 17:52:22 GMT -5
Title: "Writer’s Block"
Author: txnicstn
Email: txjagbc1@yahoo.com
Rating: G/PG [some language, etc.]
Classification:
Spoilers: "Angel of Death" and "Cover Story" specifically, but anything from Seasons 1-4 just to be safe….
Summary and Author Notes: A vignette about Timothy McGee suffering from writer’s block and wondering about the past season’s events and how might he turn this into something for his stalled novel. Don’t know if Tim [sorry, Thom] has found a way out of his writer’s block yet for ‘Rock Hollow’ but for the sake of this story, let’s just say he hasn’t. Call it writer’s license.
And no, I *do not* have it in for Jenny Shepard. I actually like her very much. But ole Tim had to have someone as a ‘fall guy’ for his novel…..
*~* indicates a scene shift.
* indicates where Tim [Thom] is typing
Disclaimer: The characters in this story are the property of Donald Bellisario, Belisaurius Productions, Paramount Pictures and Columbia Broadcasting Service Entertainment – this story is for non-profit entertainment of NCIS fans only. No copyright infringement is intended or implied.
*
“It was cold and cloudy that day…a cold so sharp…..”
*
“Well, that’s certainly crap,” Tim said sighing as he ripped the page from his Remington typewriter and dropped it into his shredder. The hungry machine made quick work of the sheet of paper. "Why don't I just add 'it was a dark and stormy night' while I'm at it?"
He leaned over, resting his forehead on the machine, “C’mon Thom,” he muttered to himself, eyes closed. “Think….”
It was a week until his completed book was due at the publisher and Tim almost had the manuscript for "Rock Hollow", his latest novel, completed. He just had to finish this last chapter…
It was approaching two in the morning. Tim turned and looked out the window, hoping for inspiration. The lights of downtown Silver Spring twinkled in the darkness. He felt like he was back at MIT, pulling an all-nighter. Why weren’t the words coming?
It had been so easy up to now. Well, that is, if you discount the bump he encountered when he got to Chapter 7. But the case involving Petty Officer Cover and his obsessed- fan-turned-killer Landon Gray had certainly given him a lot to work with.
Despite that boost, here he was yet again, staring at a blank sheet of paper.
He needed…something. He took his meerschaum pipe in hand. Rather than going through the hassle of emptying the pipe, opening his tobacco bag, refilling his pipe, and the rest – he decided to just stick it between his teeth…and think…what would Agent McGregor do at this point?
In his mind he replayed the info he had from the preceding chapter. T1bbs had been acting head of NIS while the Director, the mysterious and feisty Chelsey Bereford, had attended a special Law Enforcement/Anti-Terrorism conference in Madrid. There were rumors that Director Bereford disappeared from the conference to gather information for her vendetta against ‘El Cochon’, a ruthless terrorist that had murdered her father….
Oh yeah; he made a mental note to include Agents Tommy and Lisa in this chapter. Their relationship was getting ready to take off, he just hadn’t figured out how to do this yet.
2:48 a.m. was the readout on his computer’s clock. Well, that had killed some time. Now he was starting to cook. Okay. T1bbs, Tommy, and Lisa…now what to do with them….
*~*
It was 3:17 a.m. The rumination session with his pipe had given him two pages of what he thought were good pages of this final chapter. His editor would sure let him know if they weren’t. Now…he was stuck again. He looked over at his pipe…no, it just wasn’t producing like it usually did.
He picked up his coffee cup. Maybe some coffee will help the ole muse, he thought.
He got up and walked over to his kitchen area and pulled the perking carafe off its burner. The aroma of Starr’s coffee [it was a good thing they sold this stuff for home use, otherwise he’d need a Starr’s that stayed open 24/7] revived him a little. He poured the coffee and then leaned back on his kitchen island counter, thinking about what he had.
“Okay,” he said thinking aloud. “T1bbs has a girlfriend…no, two girlfriends. That’s good….” He looked down at the picture on the cup and gave it a gentle smile. “Thanks Grandma,”
He walked back to his desk and typewriter, set down his cup, and began typing.
*
“L.J. T1bbs was faced with a hard decision; should he take a chance with Army CID Officer Colonel Nan…”
*
Tim’s eyes flared as he thought more carefully about his ‘burst of inspiration’. He quickly grabbed the paper and tore it out of the typewriter as if it had caught fire. “If Gibbs finds out about this, he’ll shoot me,” he said morosely.
He hastily dropped the sheet into his handy shredder.
“Sorry Grandma,” he said apologetically to the cup, “it was a good idea, but I’ve already tested the Boss enough this year.”
*~*
4:30 a.m. Tim had five more pages written. Not bad. Not great, considering his deadline was less than a week a way now, but not too shabby for someone with severe case of writer’s block.
“Maybe a cat nap would help,” he said pushing his chair away from his desk, standing up and stretching, trying to stifle a yawn. Sometimes a dream would give him the missing pieces he needed and he kept a note pad by his bed to catch those thoughts.
He walked over and flopped down his bed, hands behind his head. He sank into his pillow and with a deep satisfied sigh, closed his eyes, and waited for sleep to come.
Five minutes…Ten minutes...Fifteen minutes...Twenty minutes...Twenty-five minutes….
“Great,” he groaned, opening his eyes, “not only do I have writer’s block; I also have insomnia as well…”
“Maybe some TV would help,” Tim reached for his television’s remote. He had recorded “Bones” last night. Abby told him it was a pretty good show, kinda like what Ducky does, but at place called the Jeffersonian Institute. Tim had read some of the Kathy Reich’s books and the cases were a lot like theirs.
The show was pretty good, the cast worked well together. It reminded him of how well their team worked, well in sort of dysfunctional family sort of way. Then Tim paused the show. “Cassie?”
He couldn’t get over the likeness. If he didn’t know better, he’d swear he was watching Cassie Yates, not Doctor Camille Saroyan. He almost wanted to call the Norfolk office just to make sure she was still there...except for the fact it was only five in the morning.
He took the pad and pencil by his bed and scribbled a few notes. Maybe there was something he could do with this. He hit play and watched the rest of the episode.
*~*
The sun was about thirty minutes away from its daily appearance. Outside the traffic was starting to pick up, the early risers trying to beat the AM rush.
“So much for sleep.” He said getting up from the bed, “well, I might as well give writing another try….”
He sat down at the typewriter. If it could speak, he was sure it probably would have said, ‘You again? Didn’t you have enough last night?’
Tim scrubbed his hand across his face and shook his head to clear out the cobwebs. He thought again about all that happened recently, the obsessed fan, the run-ins with La Grenouille, Director Shepard’s almost obsessive need to capture that arms dealer, and the strange behavior of Tony and Ziva lately…Tony and Ziva…hey, now wait a minute…he stuck a fresh sheet of paper in and began typing.
‘Free association’ That was word he used to describe it to Tony. Just typing whatever came into his mind. The words seemed to fly from his fingertips and into the keys on the typewriter.
This mad action went on for a about thirty minutes. Then Tim stopped and looked at what he had.
*
Tommy…Tony…Tony and his girlfriends…Tony and Kate? Tony and Tommy. Tommy…man on a mission…playboy…practical joker…frat boy…Italian stallion…
*
Then about halfway down the page he found it. This could be the crack in his writer’s block.
*
“Agent Tommy sighed as he looked into Agent Lisa’s eyes. ‘It’s complicated….’
Agent Lisa felt her world shattering…”
*
“Been done to death,” Tim said disgustedly, ripping the sheet of paper off the typewriter’s platen.
The sun was beginning to peak over buildings in downtown Silver Spring. Tim was glad he had today off. If he was lucky, he might be about to get this chapter done by…sunset. …nope…that was too optimistic.
*~*
Tim had been hunched over his typewriter, pipe clenched in his teeth for nearly an hour, typing furiously. He had reconstructed chapters two and five so now they flowed right into seven. Six had been a brief aside focusing on forensic pathologist Pimmy Jalmer, his lover, Special Agent Zhe, and their torrid love affair.
Maybe this would appease Jimmy. After all he had felt pretty bad about Jimmy getting so angry. He knew that the man liked Agent Lee, he had certainly talked about her enough. He knew it would never happen in real life, so maybe this would help mend fences with Jimmy. And maybe he would sprout pointed ears and a magic staff would appear in his hands, too….
He dismissed his doubts and refocused his efforts on exploiting the crack in his block.
“Okay, now back to the main event,” he said aloud. More furious typing. Then deciding he needed a break, he stopped and looked at what he had.
*
“Agent Lisa pulled Agent Tommy closer to her. Their body heat intermingled. ‘Are you all right?’ she murmured to him.
‘Uh, yeah, thanks…’ Tommy didn’t know what to say next as they looked into each others eyes.
Tommy’s lips hungrily descended toward Agent Lisa’s….”
*
Tim pulled the paper from the manual typewriter so fast that it made a zipping sound as the sheet rolled free. “Tony and Ziva would never let me live this down, and Ziva *would* kill me….”
*~*
Tim stood staring out his efficiency apartment’s bay window, meerschaum pipe clenched in his teeth, hoping some bit of inspiration would strike him…nothing. He glanced over at the clock. It was 10:20 in the morning. This was not going well at all.
Maybe it was that polygraph test all of them had been required by Homeland Security to take, administered by FBI Special Agent Fornell. That shook him up pretty bad. What did they expect to find out by testing them?
His mind switched to a more pleasant thought. That of Tony seeming to sweat bullets about taking the test. Tony had asked Fornell at one point if this was really necessary. He remembered the FBI man’s deadpan response. ‘Yes Duh Nutso, its really necessary.’
Still smiling from that little scene, his mind began to probe darker thoughts. So just why was Homeland Security testing them? Was there something they knew that Gibbs didn’t? That idea intrigued him.
As his mind mulled over that thought, his muse said ‘now there’s something you can work with….’
“Yeah,” he said aloud as he crossed over to his typewriter and sat down. “What if there is…a traitor…in NIS?”
The more he thought about it, the better he liked the idea. Someone betrays the team. Someone they would never suspect. Someone that put Special Agent McGregor, L.J. T1bbs, Amy Sutton…all of them in trouble.
Tim hastily began typing. Okay, he knew he wanted a traitor, but who? Then it hit him. How about someone nobody would ever suspect?
*
“’T1bbs,’ Agent Tommy said weakly.
‘Tommy, you *were* my best agent,’ the hurt and anger could clearly be heard in T1bbs’ voice.”
*
Tim stopped typing. No, he couldn’t do that to Agent Tommy.
No, it had to be someone who was part of the team, but was enough of a lone wolf to do something like this.
*
“‘I’m sorry T1bbs,’ Agent Lisa said quietly, ‘I should have told you before now…’ her head was slightly bowed, tears were starting to trail down her face.
Agent T1bbs’ face was like stone. No one his unit had ever betrayed him before. Not like this. ‘You’re damn right you should have told me before now…’”
*
Tim sat back and surveyed the words on the page. “That’s it! Ziva will hate me, but oh, that is soo good.” He quickly began typing again. “Okay, let’s see…maybe I should have Agent Lisa not crying when she confesses to T1bbs….”
He thought about that for moment and then nodded.
“Yeah, that sounds more like her. “Her voice is cracking…she’s sorry, but T1bbs will have none of it….”
Then he stopped again. No, he just couldn’t do that to Ziva, er, Agent Lisa. Maybe someone close to T1bbs….
*
“Director Bereford sat down hard in her chair. She looked up at a stern L.J. T1bbs.
‘You knew?’ she said in a quiet shocked voice.
‘Chelsey,’ he said quietly, a hint of gentleness. Gentleness reserved for a former partner. ‘we used to work together, you didn’t think I would find out?’
‘I-I don’t know what to say….’”
*
Tim looked at the sentence for a few minutes. Then he shook his head, but not because it wouldn’t work. ‘Neither do I, Chelsey.’”
It was good. He definitely could get a couple of more pages out this.
He just hoped that Director Shepard wouldn’t see herself as NIS Director Chelsey Bereford.
Now he was on a roll.
- Fini
Author: txnicstn
Email: txjagbc1@yahoo.com
Rating: G/PG [some language, etc.]
Classification:
Spoilers: "Angel of Death" and "Cover Story" specifically, but anything from Seasons 1-4 just to be safe….
Summary and Author Notes: A vignette about Timothy McGee suffering from writer’s block and wondering about the past season’s events and how might he turn this into something for his stalled novel. Don’t know if Tim [sorry, Thom] has found a way out of his writer’s block yet for ‘Rock Hollow’ but for the sake of this story, let’s just say he hasn’t. Call it writer’s license.
And no, I *do not* have it in for Jenny Shepard. I actually like her very much. But ole Tim had to have someone as a ‘fall guy’ for his novel…..*~* indicates a scene shift.
* indicates where Tim [Thom] is typing
Disclaimer: The characters in this story are the property of Donald Bellisario, Belisaurius Productions, Paramount Pictures and Columbia Broadcasting Service Entertainment – this story is for non-profit entertainment of NCIS fans only. No copyright infringement is intended or implied.
*
“It was cold and cloudy that day…a cold so sharp…..”
*
“Well, that’s certainly crap,” Tim said sighing as he ripped the page from his Remington typewriter and dropped it into his shredder. The hungry machine made quick work of the sheet of paper. "Why don't I just add 'it was a dark and stormy night' while I'm at it?"
He leaned over, resting his forehead on the machine, “C’mon Thom,” he muttered to himself, eyes closed. “Think….”
It was a week until his completed book was due at the publisher and Tim almost had the manuscript for "Rock Hollow", his latest novel, completed. He just had to finish this last chapter…
It was approaching two in the morning. Tim turned and looked out the window, hoping for inspiration. The lights of downtown Silver Spring twinkled in the darkness. He felt like he was back at MIT, pulling an all-nighter. Why weren’t the words coming?
It had been so easy up to now. Well, that is, if you discount the bump he encountered when he got to Chapter 7. But the case involving Petty Officer Cover and his obsessed- fan-turned-killer Landon Gray had certainly given him a lot to work with.
Despite that boost, here he was yet again, staring at a blank sheet of paper.
He needed…something. He took his meerschaum pipe in hand. Rather than going through the hassle of emptying the pipe, opening his tobacco bag, refilling his pipe, and the rest – he decided to just stick it between his teeth…and think…what would Agent McGregor do at this point?
In his mind he replayed the info he had from the preceding chapter. T1bbs had been acting head of NIS while the Director, the mysterious and feisty Chelsey Bereford, had attended a special Law Enforcement/Anti-Terrorism conference in Madrid. There were rumors that Director Bereford disappeared from the conference to gather information for her vendetta against ‘El Cochon’, a ruthless terrorist that had murdered her father….
Oh yeah; he made a mental note to include Agents Tommy and Lisa in this chapter. Their relationship was getting ready to take off, he just hadn’t figured out how to do this yet.
2:48 a.m. was the readout on his computer’s clock. Well, that had killed some time. Now he was starting to cook. Okay. T1bbs, Tommy, and Lisa…now what to do with them….
*~*
It was 3:17 a.m. The rumination session with his pipe had given him two pages of what he thought were good pages of this final chapter. His editor would sure let him know if they weren’t. Now…he was stuck again. He looked over at his pipe…no, it just wasn’t producing like it usually did.
He picked up his coffee cup. Maybe some coffee will help the ole muse, he thought.
He got up and walked over to his kitchen area and pulled the perking carafe off its burner. The aroma of Starr’s coffee [it was a good thing they sold this stuff for home use, otherwise he’d need a Starr’s that stayed open 24/7] revived him a little. He poured the coffee and then leaned back on his kitchen island counter, thinking about what he had.
“Okay,” he said thinking aloud. “T1bbs has a girlfriend…no, two girlfriends. That’s good….” He looked down at the picture on the cup and gave it a gentle smile. “Thanks Grandma,”
He walked back to his desk and typewriter, set down his cup, and began typing.
*
“L.J. T1bbs was faced with a hard decision; should he take a chance with Army CID Officer Colonel Nan…”
*
Tim’s eyes flared as he thought more carefully about his ‘burst of inspiration’. He quickly grabbed the paper and tore it out of the typewriter as if it had caught fire. “If Gibbs finds out about this, he’ll shoot me,” he said morosely.
He hastily dropped the sheet into his handy shredder.
“Sorry Grandma,” he said apologetically to the cup, “it was a good idea, but I’ve already tested the Boss enough this year.”
*~*
4:30 a.m. Tim had five more pages written. Not bad. Not great, considering his deadline was less than a week a way now, but not too shabby for someone with severe case of writer’s block.
“Maybe a cat nap would help,” he said pushing his chair away from his desk, standing up and stretching, trying to stifle a yawn. Sometimes a dream would give him the missing pieces he needed and he kept a note pad by his bed to catch those thoughts.
He walked over and flopped down his bed, hands behind his head. He sank into his pillow and with a deep satisfied sigh, closed his eyes, and waited for sleep to come.
Five minutes…Ten minutes...Fifteen minutes...Twenty minutes...Twenty-five minutes….
“Great,” he groaned, opening his eyes, “not only do I have writer’s block; I also have insomnia as well…”
“Maybe some TV would help,” Tim reached for his television’s remote. He had recorded “Bones” last night. Abby told him it was a pretty good show, kinda like what Ducky does, but at place called the Jeffersonian Institute. Tim had read some of the Kathy Reich’s books and the cases were a lot like theirs.
The show was pretty good, the cast worked well together. It reminded him of how well their team worked, well in sort of dysfunctional family sort of way. Then Tim paused the show. “Cassie?”
He couldn’t get over the likeness. If he didn’t know better, he’d swear he was watching Cassie Yates, not Doctor Camille Saroyan. He almost wanted to call the Norfolk office just to make sure she was still there...except for the fact it was only five in the morning.
He took the pad and pencil by his bed and scribbled a few notes. Maybe there was something he could do with this. He hit play and watched the rest of the episode.
*~*
The sun was about thirty minutes away from its daily appearance. Outside the traffic was starting to pick up, the early risers trying to beat the AM rush.
“So much for sleep.” He said getting up from the bed, “well, I might as well give writing another try….”
He sat down at the typewriter. If it could speak, he was sure it probably would have said, ‘You again? Didn’t you have enough last night?’
Tim scrubbed his hand across his face and shook his head to clear out the cobwebs. He thought again about all that happened recently, the obsessed fan, the run-ins with La Grenouille, Director Shepard’s almost obsessive need to capture that arms dealer, and the strange behavior of Tony and Ziva lately…Tony and Ziva…hey, now wait a minute…he stuck a fresh sheet of paper in and began typing.
‘Free association’ That was word he used to describe it to Tony. Just typing whatever came into his mind. The words seemed to fly from his fingertips and into the keys on the typewriter.
This mad action went on for a about thirty minutes. Then Tim stopped and looked at what he had.
*
Tommy…Tony…Tony and his girlfriends…Tony and Kate? Tony and Tommy. Tommy…man on a mission…playboy…practical joker…frat boy…Italian stallion…
*
Then about halfway down the page he found it. This could be the crack in his writer’s block.
*
“Agent Tommy sighed as he looked into Agent Lisa’s eyes. ‘It’s complicated….’
Agent Lisa felt her world shattering…”
*
“Been done to death,” Tim said disgustedly, ripping the sheet of paper off the typewriter’s platen.
The sun was beginning to peak over buildings in downtown Silver Spring. Tim was glad he had today off. If he was lucky, he might be about to get this chapter done by…sunset. …nope…that was too optimistic.
*~*
Tim had been hunched over his typewriter, pipe clenched in his teeth for nearly an hour, typing furiously. He had reconstructed chapters two and five so now they flowed right into seven. Six had been a brief aside focusing on forensic pathologist Pimmy Jalmer, his lover, Special Agent Zhe, and their torrid love affair.
Maybe this would appease Jimmy. After all he had felt pretty bad about Jimmy getting so angry. He knew that the man liked Agent Lee, he had certainly talked about her enough. He knew it would never happen in real life, so maybe this would help mend fences with Jimmy. And maybe he would sprout pointed ears and a magic staff would appear in his hands, too….
He dismissed his doubts and refocused his efforts on exploiting the crack in his block.
“Okay, now back to the main event,” he said aloud. More furious typing. Then deciding he needed a break, he stopped and looked at what he had.
*
“Agent Lisa pulled Agent Tommy closer to her. Their body heat intermingled. ‘Are you all right?’ she murmured to him.
‘Uh, yeah, thanks…’ Tommy didn’t know what to say next as they looked into each others eyes.
Tommy’s lips hungrily descended toward Agent Lisa’s….”
*
Tim pulled the paper from the manual typewriter so fast that it made a zipping sound as the sheet rolled free. “Tony and Ziva would never let me live this down, and Ziva *would* kill me….”
*~*
Tim stood staring out his efficiency apartment’s bay window, meerschaum pipe clenched in his teeth, hoping some bit of inspiration would strike him…nothing. He glanced over at the clock. It was 10:20 in the morning. This was not going well at all.
Maybe it was that polygraph test all of them had been required by Homeland Security to take, administered by FBI Special Agent Fornell. That shook him up pretty bad. What did they expect to find out by testing them?
His mind switched to a more pleasant thought. That of Tony seeming to sweat bullets about taking the test. Tony had asked Fornell at one point if this was really necessary. He remembered the FBI man’s deadpan response. ‘Yes Duh Nutso, its really necessary.’
Still smiling from that little scene, his mind began to probe darker thoughts. So just why was Homeland Security testing them? Was there something they knew that Gibbs didn’t? That idea intrigued him.
As his mind mulled over that thought, his muse said ‘now there’s something you can work with….’
“Yeah,” he said aloud as he crossed over to his typewriter and sat down. “What if there is…a traitor…in NIS?”
The more he thought about it, the better he liked the idea. Someone betrays the team. Someone they would never suspect. Someone that put Special Agent McGregor, L.J. T1bbs, Amy Sutton…all of them in trouble.
Tim hastily began typing. Okay, he knew he wanted a traitor, but who? Then it hit him. How about someone nobody would ever suspect?
*
“’T1bbs,’ Agent Tommy said weakly.
‘Tommy, you *were* my best agent,’ the hurt and anger could clearly be heard in T1bbs’ voice.”
*
Tim stopped typing. No, he couldn’t do that to Agent Tommy.
No, it had to be someone who was part of the team, but was enough of a lone wolf to do something like this.
*
“‘I’m sorry T1bbs,’ Agent Lisa said quietly, ‘I should have told you before now…’ her head was slightly bowed, tears were starting to trail down her face.
Agent T1bbs’ face was like stone. No one his unit had ever betrayed him before. Not like this. ‘You’re damn right you should have told me before now…’”
*
Tim sat back and surveyed the words on the page. “That’s it! Ziva will hate me, but oh, that is soo good.” He quickly began typing again. “Okay, let’s see…maybe I should have Agent Lisa not crying when she confesses to T1bbs….”
He thought about that for moment and then nodded.
“Yeah, that sounds more like her. “Her voice is cracking…she’s sorry, but T1bbs will have none of it….”
Then he stopped again. No, he just couldn’t do that to Ziva, er, Agent Lisa. Maybe someone close to T1bbs….
*
“Director Bereford sat down hard in her chair. She looked up at a stern L.J. T1bbs.
‘You knew?’ she said in a quiet shocked voice.
‘Chelsey,’ he said quietly, a hint of gentleness. Gentleness reserved for a former partner. ‘we used to work together, you didn’t think I would find out?’
‘I-I don’t know what to say….’”
*
Tim looked at the sentence for a few minutes. Then he shook his head, but not because it wouldn’t work. ‘Neither do I, Chelsey.’”
It was good. He definitely could get a couple of more pages out this.
He just hoped that Director Shepard wouldn’t see herself as NIS Director Chelsey Bereford.
Now he was on a roll.
- Fini