Title: Damage
Author: Xanthe
Fandom: NCIS
Pairing: Gibbs/DiNozzo
Categories: Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Drama, Romance, Case-file
Length: Epic
Warnings: graphic child sexual abuse and rape
Author on LJ: xanthelj
Website: Xanthe

Author’s Summary: When Gibbs investigates a minor robbery, he uncovers something much more sinister. The resulting investigation has unexpected and far-reaching consequences.

Review:
Sorry in advance for the long rec, but this is a tricky one for me and I have a lot to say about it. I debated long and hard whether or not I wanted to rec this story; it’s more disturbing than my usual fare. When I say graphic, I mean it – it’s not gratuitous or even that explicit, per se, but the horror of the scenes comes through very clearly. Too often in fanfiction, I find that child sexual abuse is used as an “angst shortcut”; a quick, easy way to give a character an angsty past and it’s often handled… poorly, cursorily or worse, for titillating sensationalism. Maybe this has been on my mind after Jane’s rant here, but that’s why I decided to rec Xanthe’s Damage. It takes an unflinching, well-written view of child sexual abuse in a way that, well, it doesn’t make me happy exactly, given the subject matter, but is good to see addressed seriously and sensitively in fanfiction.

There are several things Xanthe does that I appreciated seeing:
     (1) In non-con stories, fandom tends to focus almost solely on violent, forcible assaults from strangers or near-strangers and ignores that that type is actually not as common as assault from a known, trusted entity. This is not the case in Damage. Here, the emotional manipulation and mind-games, a blend of “love confessions” and intimidation, is just as damaging as the assaults and are very believable.
     (2) Xanthe did her research on the long-term effects: When Tony is forced to deal with his past, he does not collapse in a woobie ball of tears for the whole entire story – he does cry at one point but he mostly suffers from dissociation, flashbacks, sexual dysfunction, and so on – all real and common consequences of child sexual abuse.
     (3) Xanthe handles Tony and Gibbs’s relationship very well. I’m a hard sell on the pairing because aside from the boss/subordinate issue, their actual dynamic makes it hard for me to buy that they could form a healthy, equal relationship. In this story, Xanthe spends a lot of time developing their connection. She is sensitive to the fact that, although the abuse took place years ago, Tony is only now confronting that trauma and therefore is deft enough to write their relationship with care, avoiding what usually smacks of exploitation under these circumstances. She manages to keep them in character but makes sure that that Gibbs is able to be a supportive partner, whom Tony trusts and feels safe with, and that Tony, despite his trauma, remains a genuinely strong character. Plus, there is no magically healing cock, HALLELUJAH! It is an honest-to-god breath of fresh air to see this in a fic of this kind. Gibbs does NOT push Tony about his sexual hang-ups; he is, in fact, perfectly willing to limit their bedroom activities according to Tony’s needs (again, hallelujah!). It is Tony himself who pushes himself to deal with those issues, and though a lot of the progress is off-screen, it is a slow-going, gradual process.

Damage is a very well-written and thought-out story. I found the scenario and the depiction of it and the consequences frankly horrifying in a way that few stories are able to get under my skin. But at the same time, it’s not all doom-and-gloom. As I mentioned, Tony remains are strong character and, the Tony/Gibbs relationship really felt like a positive and genuinely wonderful thing amidst the angst. The sense of overcoming and of triumph is all the more inspiring considering the horror. Throughout the story, Tony’s bravery and the support of his teammates really kept me from becoming depressed as I read – a remarkable balancing act on Xanthe’s part.

This is, in my opinion, the way stories about abuse should be written.

Damage Index with links to individual parts or the entire story in one file