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Summary: Most people never touch another person's soul...but when a 20 year old Leroy Jethro Gibbs meets an 8 year old Tony DiNozzo, it sparks an event that links them forever.
Rated: R
Categories: Gibbs/DiNozzo Characters: Abby Sciuto, Anthony DiNozzo, Donald Mallard, Jenny Shephard, Jimmy Palmer, Kate Todd, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Mike Franks, T.C. Fornell, Timothy McGee, Tom Morrow, Ziva David
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe, Angst, Case, Drama, First Time, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Pairing: Gibbs/DiNozzo
Warnings: None
Challenges:
Series: None
Chapters: 4 Completed: Yes
Word count: 85300 Read: 16225
Published: 10/05/2010 Updated: 10/05/2010
Story Notes:
Author's Notes: This story is set in an AU based on Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials series of children's books where everyone has an external soul in animal form, called a "daemon" (pronounced 'demon'). This story is not a crossover and no characters from the books appear in it - it's all Gibbs/DiNozzo all the way through. This story is NOT set in one of the worlds Pullman wrote about. The universe in this story is structured very like our own, except for the fact that people in this universe have daemons. These daemons are broadly similar to the ones in the Pullman novels, but I have embellished them or tweaked them a bit to suit my own purposes and put my own spin on them.

Pullman established that daemons take animal forms that are a representation of a person's soul, or inner being, or gut instinct. They can talk. They have to be in close proximity to the person they belong to as it causes huge distress if they are separated. Daemons are usually the opposite gender to the person they belong to. Children's daemons take various different forms until they reach adolescence when they settle into one form which they keep for the rest of their lives. Daemons have names (although he doesn’t establish if they’re born with them or given them!). If you are hurt your daemon feels it too, and if your daemon is hurt you feel it. It is a deep taboo to touch another person's daemon with your bare hand. Daemons can touch each other, and you can touch your own daemon, but not somebody else's. When a person dies, their daemon turns to dust. Daemons are corporeal â€" you can touch them â€" but they don't appear to need food or drink or medical treatment. Their physical condition reflects your own â€" so if you've got a sprained ankle, they limp too. This goes both ways to a certain extent â€" if another daemon (or even a person) hurts your daemon then you feel it. I have added a few minor tweaks of my own.

As I was writing this, I became aware of lots of questions Pullman never answers about daemons. I'm afraid I don't know the answers, either. I could guess, but in keeping with the spirit of the universe I'm not going to try and explain away some of the logical, practical and logistical issues I have with the concept of daemons. I hope people go along with it as a magical fantasy kind of AU and enjoy it on that level.

Even if you've never read the Pullman novels, or seen the movie version of the first book â€"The Golden Compass â€" you shouldn't have any difficulty understanding this story once you've got your head around the concept of daemons! It is all explained in the context of the story. I had great fun thinking up what each character's daemon would be. You might think I got it wrong or got it right, but I DID give it a lot of thought!

I haven't read any other NCIS fanfic stories that feature Pullman's concept of daemons, so I hope this is truly original within the fandom, but if not, I'm sure there's room for another take on it!

I’ve stuck broadly to canon, but as this is an AU I have tweaked some elements of canon to better fit this particular universe. Therefore, some things happen differently in this story to the way they happened in canon, and dates, times and events might not tally precisely.

Thank-yous: A huge thank you to Tejas for beta. Thank yous also to Taylorgibbs, Haggy, Dinkydi, Nikitariddick and Bluespirit for audiencing. You have all been terrific, and your help absolutely invaluable.

Dedication: For Nikita. I wouldn't have written more than 2000 words of this story if you hadn't said it was worth doing more and then nagged and nagged at me until I did. Thank you so much for your encouragement and support.

1. Part One: Pack by Xanthe [Reviews - 0] (23140 words)
Most people never touch another person's soul...but when a 20 year old Leroy Jethro Gibbs meets an 8 year old Tony DiNozzo, it sparks an event that links them forever.

2. Part Two: Parted by Xanthe [Reviews - 0] (21490 words)

3. Part Three: Pretence by Xanthe [Reviews - 0] (18134 words)

4. Part Four: Pride by Xanthe [Reviews - 0] (22536 words)