Damn. Damn. Seriously, this is absolutely brilliant. The whole plot, loosening and relaxing the audience, making us go 'aw, Tony's getting looked after like he deserves for once'. We don't even notice when he picks up the snake and helps Kate. We don't notice when Tony's got the keys to the car.

We don't realise, still, when he has an emotional concluding paragraph - 'he began to feel better, more alive... to celebrate, to toast the whims of the universe...'

And then the juxtaposition of the lock in the sunlight.

Finito. 'Tony began to turn the key'.

Extraordinary.

Thankyou and congratulations on such a wonderfully crafted story! It's going on my favourites, and there aren't a lot of them.

Good job.

~SnowFox3

Beautifully written, with such a dramatic, horrible (in a good way?) ending...

Aghh EVERY time I read this story I forget about the last line until I'm reading it. Darn you making this all warm and fuzzy and lovely then THAT. *whimpers*

Perfectly done, though. As are all your stories.

AGH! Don't stop there!!
*whimpers*

Freaking epic, that's what you are! It seems every story you write I fall in love with :D

Ouch. The ending hit me like a sucker punch, I swear. The rest was all lolzy and so in character that it took me a second to actually digest the last line and the ramifications. Very, very cleverly done.
Aha, then again, I should've seen it coming. Tony never gets a good day in fanfiction without something exploding or otherwise injuring/maiming/killing someone (usually himself).
Very, very well done.

You've got to continue this! I absolutely love it!

Rather sweet. Snakes are cute.

Oh...ouch.

That's a very nice twist on the episode. Very well done =)

AGH! You stopped THERE!

Was trolling through NCIS oldies and found this. You captured the whole team perfectly. I could just hear the banter in my head and felt the concern...

In truth, at the time I didn't know that Sascha Alexander was leaving and so when this ep was broadcast I was deeply afraid that they were going to do something exactly like this and that Tony would get killed just after surviving the plague.

But this is just evil, in a very Twilight-Zone kind of way. Talk about things going sideways!

Just brilliant.

A great story. Very good.

Great story. I was just wondering if you were done with it or if you are planning on adding a second chapter?

what no finish?!?

ARGHHGHGHG! Why? Why-oh-why did you stop there?! I mean, ok, from an author's POV, it's an excellent place to stop but for a reader; really frustrating. I want aftermath~ even though I could probably guess.

SO. Excellent ending, even if it's twitch-provoking. Interesting premise for the story and nice storytelling. Lol, I can just see McGee with the hot water bottle and Kate appearing at Tony's apartment acting all worried. And Tony feeling O_O as an appropriate response. OK, so now I'm rambling and therefore should stop. Yup.

How horrific and ominous. This is the first story I've read that motivated me to review in a long long time. What a fantastic ending and a perfect 'how it could have been' scenario.

The way you have the reader cheerfully bumping along, enjoying all the feel-good mother-hen behaviour from Ziva and McGee... then it all starts slipping sideways when DiNozzo picks up that snake. The glitter of light off the lock was a fantastic juxtapose- the bright, immovable reality- it seems cheerful and harmless until BLAM.

Just, wow. Fantastic story with a fantastic punch. Possibly more likely to make people cry than even the thickest written angst simply because you're not prepared for it.

I can see it's been a while since you've written this but that doesn't change its brilliance. Congratulations, and thank you.

EEK! Don't DO it! Damn... Nice way to end a story. *grins* Tony with the key in the trunk. Once again, FANTASTIC writing! Loved every second!