[Anonymouse]

I'm currently having way too much fun writing an NCIS/Lost Girl crossover. I thought I'd share my favourite bit:

"I removed the bandage, intending to do likewise with the bullet…only to find her skin pristine and unbroken beneath it,” Ducky informed them. “X-ray shows no sign of the bullet, or any evidence it was ever there. Further, though admittedly her face was covered in blood, her nose is entirely unbroken as far as I can tell. It’s all most peculiar.”

“That is not possible,” Ziva protested, glancing incredulously at each of her colleagues, “I hit her! My shot hit her high in the shoulder, I was shooting to disable! Before that, I delivered a combat strike that should have killed her!”

“And yet,” Ducky disputed, “she is uninjured. I couldn’t find even a bruise on her. One would also expect to find numerous minor lacerations caused by her abrupt self-defenestration,” he added, “but there is nothing.” He noted McGee’s puzzled frown and elaborated, “She threw herself out of a window, Timothy - from the French fenêtre, though the word itself was coined in Prague, in 1419, when seven town officials were thrown from the Town Hall; this had the unfortunate result of precipitating the Hussite War. Then in 1618, two Imperial governors and their secretary were similarly tossed from Prague Castle, sparking the Thirty Years War. Defenestration is a rather drastic but effective short-term means of settling a political dispute, while igniting a war,” he chuckled.

I often think the NCIS writers have more fun with Ducky than almost any other character. <OT, Ducky style> I first discovered defenestration (such a great word, don't you think?) courtesy of the late great Arthur C. Clarke and his short story collection Tales From The White Hart. The Defenestration Of Ermintrude Inch is the relevant tale therein. Another, The Reluctant Orchid, is one of the funniest short stories I've ever read. </OT>