Can You Punish a Punished Man?
Feb. 2nd, 2026 05:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madimpossibledreamerwhile not ancient, I have been sitting on this one waiting to see if I'll finish it, and the magic 8 ball seems to be pointing to no.
Main Points:
Buffy/NCIS/JJBA Dialoguefic
Summary: Ahn comes for Gibbs, and Xander talks her out of it.
Word Count: 430
Rating: Gen
“Lemme guess. One of his ex-wives got drunk in a bar.”
“Good guess.”
“The thing is, though, he’s already tortured. He couldn’t save his wife and daughter, never mind the fact that he wasn’t here to save them. Not that I know all the details, but. And then, I guess, he went and killed the bastard, and found out that revenge really isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be, and doesn’t fill that empty void in your heart. It doesn’t bring them back. He’s always going to live with the things he’s seen and done, or the people he couldn’t save. And now he’s got me. He lives with the scars that to be honest I barely even feel or think about anymore. He has to live with the idea that he can’t actually go and punish the guy who dared hurt a kid, let alone his. And he doesn’t know about the supernatural, but he will, and then he’ll have to live with the idea that I’m as stubborn as he is and won’t just give up on saving people because it puts me in danger. And the fact that it isn’t his world, and he really can’t protect me from those things. He’s going to see me come back bruised or limping sometimes, and it’s going to burn him. And it’s made all the worse by the fact that there’s no avoiding that fate, just by putting it off. So if you can think of a way to hurt him worse than that, go ahead, because I can’t, and I’m not sure even you with all your inventiveness can come up with anything.”
“I know there was a reason I liked you. If you ever want a job…”
“I’m flattered by all the people offering me jobs I’d never accept. I’m no saint. Sometimes I think about stuff like this, and then I realize that it’s never worked out well for me or anyone and that it just made me feel awful.”
“You and Rosenberg both have the potential, but it’s true she’d be more likely to take me up on the offer.”
“What about Willow? You wouldn’t trick her into it, or offer her something too good to refuse, or…”
“It’s no good if they don’t join of their own free will. Of course, emotion might play into it, but isn’t that true of all choices?”
“Good. But just…you’ve never seen vengeance until you’ve hurt one of my friends. There is no mercy on Earth.”
Main Points:
Buffy/NCIS/JJBA Dialoguefic
Summary: Ahn comes for Gibbs, and Xander talks her out of it.
Word Count: 430
Rating: Gen
“Lemme guess. One of his ex-wives got drunk in a bar.”
“Good guess.”
“The thing is, though, he’s already tortured. He couldn’t save his wife and daughter, never mind the fact that he wasn’t here to save them. Not that I know all the details, but. And then, I guess, he went and killed the bastard, and found out that revenge really isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be, and doesn’t fill that empty void in your heart. It doesn’t bring them back. He’s always going to live with the things he’s seen and done, or the people he couldn’t save. And now he’s got me. He lives with the scars that to be honest I barely even feel or think about anymore. He has to live with the idea that he can’t actually go and punish the guy who dared hurt a kid, let alone his. And he doesn’t know about the supernatural, but he will, and then he’ll have to live with the idea that I’m as stubborn as he is and won’t just give up on saving people because it puts me in danger. And the fact that it isn’t his world, and he really can’t protect me from those things. He’s going to see me come back bruised or limping sometimes, and it’s going to burn him. And it’s made all the worse by the fact that there’s no avoiding that fate, just by putting it off. So if you can think of a way to hurt him worse than that, go ahead, because I can’t, and I’m not sure even you with all your inventiveness can come up with anything.”
“I know there was a reason I liked you. If you ever want a job…”
“I’m flattered by all the people offering me jobs I’d never accept. I’m no saint. Sometimes I think about stuff like this, and then I realize that it’s never worked out well for me or anyone and that it just made me feel awful.”
“You and Rosenberg both have the potential, but it’s true she’d be more likely to take me up on the offer.”
“What about Willow? You wouldn’t trick her into it, or offer her something too good to refuse, or…”
“It’s no good if they don’t join of their own free will. Of course, emotion might play into it, but isn’t that true of all choices?”
“Good. But just…you’ve never seen vengeance until you’ve hurt one of my friends. There is no mercy on Earth.”
“What was that about?”
“You dodged a bullet, Dad. You’re welcome.”