NCIS: I want things to be as they were.

Let me just say right off the bat that this is a scene from an AU fanfic by LittleSammy, who is an EXCELLENT writer, btw. The prompt was something like, "end of the world but no aliens or zombies," and she came up with this weird... stuff... environment that happened but, in a classic X-Files style, was never fully explained. I was thinking "duststorm" at first, but it was some time/space experiment gone wrong in the middle of the Nevada desert and everything went wonky. Everything turned an odd sepia color save for their eyes, which were bright and glowy for some reason. I thought that was GREAT imagery.

So yeah, it's kind of a post-apocalyptic survival fanfic, which I typically stay away from because they are usually -really- badly done, especially since that's my favorite genre behind romance, but she pulls it off very well, and THAT is saying something.

It's a 5-chapter fic that can be found here: [link] And note that while it's AU, the characters are still very in-character, which also impresses me. Seriously, I am VERY hard to impress when it comes to fanfic. You have no idea how hard it would be to get me to draw a scene from your fanfic if it wasn't absolutely amazing.

But enough gushing. Tony and Ziva, at this point, having traveled a bajillion miles on foot and gotten no answers from the scant amount of people they've met, are pretty spent. There's a scene at night (yes, it's nighttime. There is no darkness at night, just pale glowy twilight) when neither of them can sleep, and they talk about WTF they're going to do if they can't get out of this hellhole.

Uh... I didn't exactly reference the paragraph I was drawing, so this is kind of something I pictured in my head based on the line: "'No,' she says and doesn't meet his eyes. 'I just want to go home. I want things to be as they were.' She swallows hard, and a frown draws her brows together. 'I was just getting used to it.'" I think I thought he was trying to talk some sense into her, but looking back, I don't think that's what actually happened, BUT I DREW IT ANYWAY.

Since it's quite AU, um, if you don't like Tiva, pretend it's, like... other people. My style is vague enough. Honestly, I'm just glad I didn't have to draw Tony in another one of those dang work suits. Those kick my ass. Must be the shoulder pads.

Before I get asked, AU stands for Alternate Universe, meaning the circumstances that're usually canon are flipped on their heads. In this case, temporal distortion wouldn't actually happen on the show.

I've driven on the I-15 enough that I know the terrain probably a little too well. Southern Nevada is gorgeous, but it gets monotonous if you go from about Riverside through Utah. It's different KINDS of desert, but it's desert. Very plain, very brown desert. The whole "lol deserts have cacti" thing is a myth if you care to believe it. Dead shrubs, sure. Cacti, not so much.

Okay, enough babble. Enjoy AU fanfic fanart, yo's!

Tony and Ziva are property of CBS, Dreamland was written by LittleSammy on fanfiction.net (among other places), and artwork was done by .

Stop what you are doing and go read it. Oh wait... if you're 17 and younger, maybe you shouldn't. It's rated M for a reason.

And I know there are anatomical problems with this, but I'm tired and I just really wanted to color it. Cut me some slack?