Post by alethea on Jun 26, 2006 13:04:12 GMT -5
Hi there. I've written a few stories and thought I'd try to post them here. My 'name' on this board is 'alethea' but my pen-name is 'Kate Wallace', hence the thread title.
Here's the first entry:
Title: Those Thrilling Days of Yesteryear
Author: Kate Wallace
Genre: Sap fic
Rating: K+
Spoilers: Most of season 3
Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the characters or anything else mentioned in the story. It is a work of fiction. The characters belong to CBS, DPB, Paramount and others and no infringement is intended.
(There’s an explanation at the end..if I do it here, it will give some of the plot away.) I have no idea where this came from, I blame it on too many pastel chocolate mini eggs.
This was absolutely the last straw. Tony pulled on his jacket and slammed out of his apartment, his anger at a full boil. It was Sunday, it was his birthday, for heaven’s sake, it was his day off, it was the first day off he’d had in a week and a half and NOW he gets a phone call to come into work . From McGee, no less, because apparently Gibbs was too busy to pick up the phone and call, and so he gets the notification from Probie . And they’re meeting in Abby’s lab, which probably means something to do with evidence being messed up and the way his life’s been going lately, it’s likely that HE messed it up somehow, though he’s not sure how, but Madame Director will undoubtedly find a way to pin the blame on him. It was probably Ziva, but he’s supposed to be supervising her, so if she screwed up then it’s his fault too. Maybe it’s time to move on, he knew this gig was too good to last and he’s tired and another year older and this year has been crap already and...he’s at work. And not quite sure how he got there and that’s so not a good sign but maybe an indication that he should find another line of work that didn’t stress him out so much and maybe his co-workers wouldn’t screw up and make him come in on his day off.
He’s marginally calmer in the elevator, but not by much, so that when he steps into Abby’s lab and hears Ziva ask “Why is it shaped like a horseshoe?” he’s ready to just turn around and walk out and keep on walking.
“Hi, Tony ” Abby is perky and bouncy and moving around whatever it is that Ziva asked about as though she doesn’t want him to see it. Ducky, Palmer, McGee and Gibbs are all standing there and looking at him as though they expect something. He looks around the lab...all the screens, Abby’s computer included, are displaying the same thing, and from where he’s standing all he can make out is that the background is green and there’s movement from the left side to the right but he can’t tell what it is. He turns back to look at the others and they’re all grinning from ear to ear, even Gibbs. He takes a few more steps into the lab and realizes that they all have Ohio State shirts on, including Abby. She’s got on a black tank top, Ziva’s is white and now he can see the familiar scarlet, gray on the rest. As he’s processing this and wondering if he’s wandered into some sort of alternate universe, he hears: “Happy Birthday, Tony ” And Abby steps aside to reveal the object of Ziva’s question..a horseshoe- shaped cake, the icing white and scarlet, the lettering gray. He’s closer to the screens now, and though the sound is low, he can hear the familiar tune from all those fall days at the football games and watch the band spelling out “Ohio” on the field. The images change and suddenly he’s watching himself on the screen, running, making a touchdown. He turns back to the others and all he can manage is “Guys.....” the anger and frustration gone in the space of a heartbeat.
Then there’s cake and ice cream, though, thankfully, the ice cream is just vanilla. He’s fond of his alma mater but not sure he’s ready for scarlet and gray ice cream. He can feel the anger and tension from the last weeks and months draining out of him as they stand around and watch the videos. Videos that Abby and McGee got from who-knows-where, Abby especially having sources and contacts that he’s pretty sure he doesn’t want to know about. There’s much explaining to Ziva about how the game works and why everyone is so excited about, as she puts it, “watching a word spelled.” He’s pretty sure she didn’t understand when he tried to explain about the honor involved in dotting the ‘I’ in “Ohio” or anything else about the half-time festivities. But, deep inside, he’s really touched that Abby and McGee went to all this trouble just for him and that Gibbs, Ducky, Ziva and Palmer showed up to watch and eat cake and listen to his stories.
Maybe this job isn’t so bad after all, he thinks as he sits in Abby’s chair with his feet propped up on her desk, working on his third piece of cake. Gibbs has wandered off, probably up to the bullpen to do paperwork. Ducky and the others are watching the video clip of the band and Ducky is talking about some obscure tribe in South America that has some complicated ritual involving walking around in specific patterns. Abby’s sitting on the bookshelf next to him with Bert, her farting hippo, watching.
“You going to stay, Tony?” It’s strange to see the “Ohio State” peeking out from under the edges of her lab coat. It’s deja vu but not, in some bizarre way. She’s staring at him intently and he knows somehow she’s figured out what he was thinking when he first came into the lab.
“Yeah, I think I’ll stick around for a while.”
“Good, because if would be awfully dull around here if you left.” She tosses Bert into Tony’s lap and walks over to one of her machines to check something. Tony puts his plate on the desk, wraps his arms around Bert, being careful not to squeeze him too tightly, and leans back in the chair. The last thing he remembers is the faint sound of the band, singing “Drive, drive on down the field...”
Author’s note: For those of you who aren’t familiar with Ohio State (more properly The Ohio State University), their colors are scarlet and gray, the football stadium is called “The Horseshoe” and the marching band is known for their half-time routine called “Script Ohio”, in which they spell out the word “Ohio” in cursive script. Being called upon to ‘dot’ the “i”in the formation is considered a high honor. (And no, I have no idea how they go about choosing the person who does it.) You can really get a black tank top with “Ohio State” on the front. There are several “Buckeye Corner” stores (the team nickname is “The Buckeyes”) in Columbus . Apparently, the shirt and jacket that Tony wore in “Deception” were purchased from the web site.
Here's the first entry:
Title: Those Thrilling Days of Yesteryear
Author: Kate Wallace
Genre: Sap fic
Rating: K+
Spoilers: Most of season 3
Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the characters or anything else mentioned in the story. It is a work of fiction. The characters belong to CBS, DPB, Paramount and others and no infringement is intended.
(There’s an explanation at the end..if I do it here, it will give some of the plot away.) I have no idea where this came from, I blame it on too many pastel chocolate mini eggs.
This was absolutely the last straw. Tony pulled on his jacket and slammed out of his apartment, his anger at a full boil. It was Sunday, it was his birthday, for heaven’s sake, it was his day off, it was the first day off he’d had in a week and a half and NOW he gets a phone call to come into work . From McGee, no less, because apparently Gibbs was too busy to pick up the phone and call, and so he gets the notification from Probie . And they’re meeting in Abby’s lab, which probably means something to do with evidence being messed up and the way his life’s been going lately, it’s likely that HE messed it up somehow, though he’s not sure how, but Madame Director will undoubtedly find a way to pin the blame on him. It was probably Ziva, but he’s supposed to be supervising her, so if she screwed up then it’s his fault too. Maybe it’s time to move on, he knew this gig was too good to last and he’s tired and another year older and this year has been crap already and...he’s at work. And not quite sure how he got there and that’s so not a good sign but maybe an indication that he should find another line of work that didn’t stress him out so much and maybe his co-workers wouldn’t screw up and make him come in on his day off.
He’s marginally calmer in the elevator, but not by much, so that when he steps into Abby’s lab and hears Ziva ask “Why is it shaped like a horseshoe?” he’s ready to just turn around and walk out and keep on walking.
“Hi, Tony ” Abby is perky and bouncy and moving around whatever it is that Ziva asked about as though she doesn’t want him to see it. Ducky, Palmer, McGee and Gibbs are all standing there and looking at him as though they expect something. He looks around the lab...all the screens, Abby’s computer included, are displaying the same thing, and from where he’s standing all he can make out is that the background is green and there’s movement from the left side to the right but he can’t tell what it is. He turns back to look at the others and they’re all grinning from ear to ear, even Gibbs. He takes a few more steps into the lab and realizes that they all have Ohio State shirts on, including Abby. She’s got on a black tank top, Ziva’s is white and now he can see the familiar scarlet, gray on the rest. As he’s processing this and wondering if he’s wandered into some sort of alternate universe, he hears: “Happy Birthday, Tony ” And Abby steps aside to reveal the object of Ziva’s question..a horseshoe- shaped cake, the icing white and scarlet, the lettering gray. He’s closer to the screens now, and though the sound is low, he can hear the familiar tune from all those fall days at the football games and watch the band spelling out “Ohio” on the field. The images change and suddenly he’s watching himself on the screen, running, making a touchdown. He turns back to the others and all he can manage is “Guys.....” the anger and frustration gone in the space of a heartbeat.
Then there’s cake and ice cream, though, thankfully, the ice cream is just vanilla. He’s fond of his alma mater but not sure he’s ready for scarlet and gray ice cream. He can feel the anger and tension from the last weeks and months draining out of him as they stand around and watch the videos. Videos that Abby and McGee got from who-knows-where, Abby especially having sources and contacts that he’s pretty sure he doesn’t want to know about. There’s much explaining to Ziva about how the game works and why everyone is so excited about, as she puts it, “watching a word spelled.” He’s pretty sure she didn’t understand when he tried to explain about the honor involved in dotting the ‘I’ in “Ohio” or anything else about the half-time festivities. But, deep inside, he’s really touched that Abby and McGee went to all this trouble just for him and that Gibbs, Ducky, Ziva and Palmer showed up to watch and eat cake and listen to his stories.
Maybe this job isn’t so bad after all, he thinks as he sits in Abby’s chair with his feet propped up on her desk, working on his third piece of cake. Gibbs has wandered off, probably up to the bullpen to do paperwork. Ducky and the others are watching the video clip of the band and Ducky is talking about some obscure tribe in South America that has some complicated ritual involving walking around in specific patterns. Abby’s sitting on the bookshelf next to him with Bert, her farting hippo, watching.
“You going to stay, Tony?” It’s strange to see the “Ohio State” peeking out from under the edges of her lab coat. It’s deja vu but not, in some bizarre way. She’s staring at him intently and he knows somehow she’s figured out what he was thinking when he first came into the lab.
“Yeah, I think I’ll stick around for a while.”
“Good, because if would be awfully dull around here if you left.” She tosses Bert into Tony’s lap and walks over to one of her machines to check something. Tony puts his plate on the desk, wraps his arms around Bert, being careful not to squeeze him too tightly, and leans back in the chair. The last thing he remembers is the faint sound of the band, singing “Drive, drive on down the field...”
Author’s note: For those of you who aren’t familiar with Ohio State (more properly The Ohio State University), their colors are scarlet and gray, the football stadium is called “The Horseshoe” and the marching band is known for their half-time routine called “Script Ohio”, in which they spell out the word “Ohio” in cursive script. Being called upon to ‘dot’ the “i”in the formation is considered a high honor. (And no, I have no idea how they go about choosing the person who does it.) You can really get a black tank top with “Ohio State” on the front. There are several “Buckeye Corner” stores (the team nickname is “The Buckeyes”) in Columbus . Apparently, the shirt and jacket that Tony wore in “Deception” were purchased from the web site.